Mid-Career Professional Development Grant

Grant Amount: Two grants, $5,000 each

Grant-Funded Period: January 1 – November 30, 2027
2026 Applications close October 18, 2026

Grant Intention: This grant supports public art professional development activities by Minnesota-based mid-career artists.

Forecast Equity Commitment

We work to provide access to our grant applications for a diverse group of artists, who are working in all career stages and ranges of public art practices and media. We place particular emphasis on supporting and amplifying the artistic work of BIPOC and Native artists, LGBTQIA+ artists, womxn artists, immigrant artists, artists from rural communities, and artists with disabilities. It is our value that our applicants, panelists, and grantees reflect the racial, cultural, and geographic diversity of our state, as well as the stories and perspectives of the artists and communities we serve.

We know that there is no “one-size-fits-all” language when it comes to talking about race and identity and that this language is always evolving. If you relate to what we’ve described here, please apply!

Grant Overview

This grant supports Minnesota-based mid-career artists seeking to expand or advance their careers in the field of public art. Funding can be used to support the development of a project idea or to participate in activities that will help applicants further their careers as public artists. Professional development activities can range from residencies to apprenticeships, conferences, travel, study, skill development, and the creation of project models or prototypes, as long as the overall outcome is to advance the applicant’s public art career. Please see the definitions of public art and mid-career below.

Professional Development grants may be used for the development of proposals for other public or nonprofit agencies; however, commission or client-based work is not eligible.

What is Public Art? Broadly speaking, public art is artwork in the public realm, regardless of whether it is situated on public or private property, or whether it is supported through public or private funding. It can range from temporary to permanent work, murals to sculptures, interventions, performances, storytelling, iron pours, sound and light projects, dance and spoken word. It is free and accessible to all members of a community.
What is a Mid-Career Artist? A mid-career artist is an artist who has been actively creating and exhibiting their work for at least ten years. They have established a reputation in the art world, have a larger body of work, and may exhibit their work regionally, nationally, or internationally. Mid-career artists may also have received some kind of recognition from the art world, such as through public presentations, magazine publications, online commentary, or industry acknowledgement. Other criteria for mid-career artists include having numerous solo art shows and collectors both nationally and internationally.
Age is not a determining factor. Career stage is assessed by the cumulative number of years an artist has been generating their own work. Mid-career or established artists shifting from one artistic discipline to another will still be considered mid-career. For example, a composer with a substantial career in music who is now moving into sculpture will be considered mid-career.

Application Process

Applications will only be accepted via the Submittable online application system (https://forecastpublicart.submittable.com/submit) during the grant application period. Submissions for 2027 grants close on October 18, 2026 at 11:59pm CST.
Complete applications include the following: a brief application overview (limit 75 words), application proposal (limit 500 words), benefit to the community (limit 250 words), impact on artistic career/development (limit 250 words), diversity of lived experience and perspective (250 words), resume, work samples, and work sample information. You are welcome to submit your application as a video. Instructions are included at the Submittable link above.
Please contact the Forecast Grants team if you need help submitting your application in English at jenk@forecastpublicart.org

These grants are made possible through generous funding from the McKnight Foundation.

A P P L Y

Application Materials

See our Selection Criteria and visit our Public Artist Grants page for additional information regarding proposals and the selection process.

Application Overview (limit 75 words):
Brief summary of the professional development proposal. This will be used for reference during the panel review process and for public announcements if the application is awarded funding.

Application Proposal (limit 500 words):
Describe your proposed professional development grant period. What activities will you participate in? Are there skills you are trying to develop, a conference you will be attending, or other ways you will use the grant funds?

Benefit to the Community (limit 250 words):
How do you define community? What is your connection to that community? How does your work benefit that community and how could this grant help you enhance or increase that benefit? Community can be defined in a variety of ways and applicants should speak to how their work will benefit their defined community.

Diversity of Lived Experience and Perspective (limit 250 words):
Forecast seeks to fund a diverse group of artists working in a range of public art practices and media. It is our value that our applicants, panelists, and grantees reflect the racial, cultural, gender, artistic, and geographic diversity of our state, and the stories and perspectives of the artists and communities we serve. Describe your lived experience and perspective as an artist working on public art.

Mid-Career Status (limit 250 words):
Describe your status as a mid-career artist.

Impact on Artistic Development/Career (limit 250 words):
How will this project support or impact your artistic development/career?

Resume (2 pages max):

Upload a document (2 pages max) that lists your personal and professional experience.

If the applicant is a collective or artist team, upload a resume for each member (2 page max per person). Name file using the format LastName_Resume

Work Samples:
Accepted in a range of media and are based on a limit of 10 images. Please see detailed work sample submission requirements below. Applicants choosing to submit sample types other than images should use the following guidelines:

1 images = 30 seconds of video/audio = half a page of written work

Select examples of allowed work samples include:

10 images OR
5 images and 2.5 minutes of video/audio OR
5 minutes of video/audio OR
5 pages of written work and 2.5 minutes of video/audio, etc.

If submitting images:

Limit of 10 images, if images are the only work sample type submitted. The following file types are accepted: jpg, gif, tiff, and png.

If submitting video/audio:

Limit of 5 minutes total if video/audio samples are the only work sample types submitted.
Samples may be split into multiple video/audio files, however, the combined length of submitted samples must be edited to stay within total length limits.
Edit and organize video/audio samples mindfully – do note that panelists may not watch video/audio submissions in their entirety.
The following video and audio types are accepted: mp4, mov, avi, mpg, 3gp, flv, webm, wmv, mkv, mp3, m4a, wav, ogg, aac, flac, aiff, and wma.

If submitting written work samples:

PDF documents are preferred.
Limit of 5 written pages if written work is the only work sample type submitted.
Edit and format mindfully – do note that panelists may skim longer text submissions.

Work Sample Information:
When uploading materials to Submittable, you will be asked to share basic project information, including: title, year, medium, location, temporary / permanent (or duration for performative work), and dimensions (if applicable). Applicants may also include brief additional information as necessary.

Eligibility Requirements

Forecast’s grants support public art and public art-related activities. Forecast defines public art broadly to support a range of processes, formats, and contexts.
Applicants must be in the appropriate career stage for the opportunity for which they apply – either mid-career or early-career.
Applicants for the McKnight funded Mid-Career Project Grant or Professional Development Grant must be mid-career artists. Applicants for the Jerome funded Early-Career Artist Research + Development and Early-Career Artist Project grants must be early-career artists. See definitions on each grant page.
An artist may only apply for one grant from Forecast during an annual grant cycle.
Applicant must be based in Minnesota, having physically lived in the state for 12 of the past 24 months, and remain a resident throughout the project period.
Applicant’s project must be original and not duplicate previous work. Forecast grants do not support remounts or reinstallations, projects that begin prior to the start of the grant year, or projects that are ongoing.
No ticket sales or fees may be charged; all events and installations must be freely accessible.
Organizations and Forecast Public Art staff, Board, Consulting Partners, and Jury members are not eligible.
Students in K-12 educational programs or enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs are not eligible.
Projects may be additionally supported by public or nonprofit agencies, or through in-kind sources, however, private commissions are not eligible.
Former grantees with outstanding final reports cannot be considered for additional Forecast grant funding until all final reports have been submitted and approved.
An artist is not eligible to receive a project grant from Forecast in two consecutive years. An artist can receive a Research & Development grant in consecutive years, or a Research + Development or Professional Development grant followed by a Project Grant.

Selection Criteria

Quality & Clarity of Proposal:
The strength of the proposed idea, clear consideration of the scope of work proposed and the applicant’s ability to see it through to completion.

Value of Project to Artist’s Development:
Applicants for this opportunity must be mid-career artists, yet also show potential for development, innovation, deepened practice, or new growth. This opportunity is specifically oriented toward expanding the artist’s career development in the field of public art.

Benefit to the Community:
This criterion can take many forms from enjoyment to beautification, civic engagement, filling a need or meaningful collaboration. Community can be defined in a variety of ways and applicants should speak to how their work will benefit their defined community.

Quality of Work Samples:
This criterion relates both to the quality of the work shared as well as the degree to which the work samples support the artist’s ability to complete the proposed work.

Resources

Visit our YouTube channel for videos on grantee projects and info session recordings.
Visit our legacy Grantee Vimeo Channel to watch short documentaries highlighting previously funded projects.
Read our Grant Tips to strengthen your application.
Check out the FAQs on our public artist grants page for information about proposed work, Forecast’s grant program and our selection process.

Staff Help

Contact jenk@forecastpublicart.org with any questions.

CONTACT US

2380 Wycliff Street
SUITE 200
ST. PAUL, MN 55114

(651) 641-1128

INFO@FORECAST
PUBLICART.ORG