MNartists.org

mnartists.org is a free online arts hub with programs and daily updated information for Minnesota's artists and arts lovers. The web site hosts a database of information and artwork from more than 15,000 artists and arts organizations around the state. Supported by the McKnight Foundation and the Walker Art Center, mnartists.org is dedicated to bringing artists and audiences together, providing news and information about the Minnesota arts scene, and fostering dialogue on matters of importance to the arts community.

History
The McKnight Foundation partnered with the Walker Art Center's New Media Initiatives group to develop mnartists.org as a result of its 1999 "Cost of Culture" survey of Minnesota artists, revealing the economic survival struggles of several individual artists. From its inception in 2002, mnartists.org has been home to original arts writing published every week and written by a diversity of 35 freelance critics and journalists covering visual art, music, theater, literature, film, new media, design, and dance around the state.

Resources
mnartists.org provides multiple online artist resources, including the twice-monthly e-mag access+ENGAGE, which features cultural events and artist opportunities, as well as artist profiles and selected articles from the main website. The mnartists.org blog features local arts news and notable cultural trends affecting Minnesota’s arts scene, while the member-driven arts calendar provides a guide to the cultural events in the region.  An opportunities list provides news and job openings for artists and arts professionals working across every arts discipline throughout many areas of the state.

Offline programming
mnartists.org also presents community events and arts programs throughout the year, including visual arts exhibitions, concert series, literary programs, film screenings, artist workshops, and more.  In addition to its online offerings, mnartists.org also hosts juried competitions competitive arts series, which provide local artists opportunities to put their work before a jury of professionals in each discipline from around the country. mnLIT, a program consisting of the What Light Poetry Project and miniStories, a flash fiction competition for local authors in any genre, is mnartists.org's showcase for Minnesota's poets and writers. Through mnLIT, mnartists.org publishes an original poem or short story by a Minnesota writer each week. mnartists.org also offers a number of opportunities for live readings through the year at various venues by the series' winners. mnSPIN, mnartists.org's local music program, spotlights the region's diversity of musical talent via a weekly playlist selected by a panel of artists and professionals working in the music industry. In 2008, mnartists.org hosted live listening parties and professional seminars for musicians. ARTmn, launched in 2009, is a visual art series devoted to providing a juried exhibition opportunity to artists around the state. ARTmn competitions ended with open call for Minnesota artist work, the winners of which are showcased in an exhibition at Hennepin County’s Central Library Cargill Gallery in Minneapolis the next fall.

See also
Walker Art Center

References

Category:Organizations based in Minnesota