About Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council
The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council serves the artistic communities of the 9-county area of southcentral MN by supporting the creation and presentation of diverse art forms, fostering equitable access to arts opportunities, and integrating arts and culture to enhance quality of life in our communities.
Focus Areas
Arts & cultureArts education (K-12)Individual artist supportCommunity arts programmingYouth scholarshipsEmergency relief for artistsOrganizational capacity building
Who They Fund
individual artists (southcentral MN)arts organizations and community arts groupsK-12 students and schoolsresidents of the 9-county southcentral Minnesota region (rural and small-town communities)
About Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council
Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council’s grantmaking is built around the arts life of southcentral Minnesota’s 9-county region, with funding that reaches individual artists, schools, community groups, and arts organizations. In 2025, its recent grants include repeated $9,000 awards to groups such as Promusica Minnesota in Mankato and the New Ulm Suzuki School of Music in New Ulm, showing support for both performance and arts instruction. The council also backs community-facing arts organizations and local cultural programming, including awards to the Old Town Association in Mankato and the Waseca Arts Council in Waseca. The council’s program list shows a broad arts portfolio rather than a single discipline: arts and culture, K-12 arts education, individual artist support, youth scholarships, emergency relief, and organizational capacity building. Some awards are designed for organizations, while others are open to individual artists and students. Its work is explicitly tied to equitable access and to integrating arts and culture into daily community life across the region. The result is a grantmaker that supports both the creation of art and the local infrastructure that makes arts participation possible.
What Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council Funds
A major part of the council’s work is community arts programming. It gave $9,000 to T-bird Community Arts in Gibbon and $9,000 to Good Thunder Reading Series in Mankato, both of which point to local arts activity rooted in specific communities. It also supported The Grand Center for Arts & Culture in New Ulm with $9,000, reinforcing the role of arts venues and presenters in the region. Education is another clear strand. The grant programs include K-12 school arts projects, youth scholarships, and workshop-based learning, and the recent grants list includes New Ulm Suzuki School of Music in New Ulm. Individual artist support is also visible through programs such as Creative Impact for Individuals and Creativity in our Region, which fund artistic projects, classes, workshops, and supplies for adults and artists in the region. Emergency Relief Fund grants add a short-term safety-net role for artists facing lost income or unexpected expenses.
How Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council Gives
Typical grant sizes cluster tightly around $7,000 median, with a p25 of $7,000 and p75 of $9,000. The recent grants list is dominated by $9,000 awards, alongside smaller individual and school-oriented grants in the council’s active programs. The pattern suggests a mix of recurring organizational support and smaller targeted awards. Multiple grant programs are open to unsolicited applications, including Flexible Support, Small Arts Project Grant, Emergency Relief Fund, Creative Impact for Individuals, Creativity in our Region, Youth Scholarship for Students, Pilot Collaborative Support, and K-12 school arts grants. The organization funds grants, not individuals directly as general aid, though it does support individual artists through dedicated programs.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$421K
Total Assets
$295K
Total Revenue
$1M
Total Expenses
$1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $7K and $9K, with a median of $7K.
25th Percentile
$7K
Median
$7K
75th Percentile
$9K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
RANDY MEDIGER
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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