Our Mission:
Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council builds community through the arts by raising the visibility of artists who broadly explore Jewish themes; enhancing Jewish identity through arts and culture; and promoting a collaborative arts-centered Jewish community.
What We Support:
Projects with or without funding in one of four ways:
- Artistic development and/or production
- Community planning and collaborations
- Research or administrative assistance
- Marketing and outreach assistance
- Projects that comply with Rimon’s mission
- Projects that are realized in Minnesota - out-of-state applicants must collaborate with a Minnesota artist or institution and realize the project in Minnesota
- Project-specific expenses only and not ongoing operating expenses (e.g., utilities, rent, staff salaries)
- Requests of up to 50% of the total project cost, with a maximum award of $3,000
Who May Apply:
- Individual artists
- Informal and/or unincorporated arts groups
- Jewish agencies and synagogues
- Non-profit arts groups
- Non-profit, non-arts organizations engaged in an art project on a Jewish theme
- Schools and community education programs
We Do Not Support:
- Recipients (group, individual, or organization) of Rimon funding within the past two years
- Rimon grant recipients with an overdue final report
- Rimon grant recipients who have received funds and whose project remains “incomplete”
- An event that is one day only if that day falls on the Jewish Sabbath or Jewish Holy days
How to Apply:
Consult the Rimon website for a timeline for the current grant cycle. At the end of the guidelines on this page, you’ll be able to fill out the application and upload the related support files.
With each proposal include:
- A project summary form, completed.
- A project narrative, including responses to ALL requests for information, in the order listed.
- A project budget.
- Work samples that will be presented to the Rimon Advisory Council at the time of the selection process.
In addition, hard-copy attachments may be used as support for your proposal, such as work samples or printed programs of past projects. Send your work sample (with a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want these materials and your work samples returned) to Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council, 4330 S. Cedar Lake Rd., Minneapolis, MN 55416.
If your proposal involves collaborators or fiscal sponsors, letters of agreement must accompany your application.
Late proposals will not be considered.
Applicants who are unable to use the online application format should contact Rimon at rimon@bfcampus.org or 952-381-3449.
Review Process:
1. The review process will be completed no later than two months after the application deadline.
2. Applications initially will be screened for eligibility by the Rimon Director together with the Art Project Support Grant Advisory Chair.
- Is the application complete?
- Is the application consistent with the mission of Rimon?
3. The Rimon Art Project Support Grant Committee will meet to review and select proposals for support.4. Applicants will be asked to a Rimon Advisory Council meeting to make a 10-minute presentation and answer questions pertaining to the proposal. If circumstances require it, the presentation may be made over the phone.5. Work samples from applicants will be reviewed by the Rimon Advisory Council at its meeting.6. Rimon Advisory Council members who have a conflict of interest with a specific applicant or project will recuse themselves from considering applications with which a conflict of interest exists.
Time Limit for Grantees to Execute Projects:
1. Grantees must complete their projects within two (2) years from the time of receipt of grant monies.
2. Grantees must apply for an extension if they exceed the two (2) year limit by putting in writing the reason(s) for their request and the amount of extra time required. Extensions require approval by the Rimon Director together with the Art Project Support Grant Advisory Chair.
Inability to Complete Project:
1. If an extension is denied, or if no request for extension is submitted, the project will be considered “incomplete,” and Rimon reserves the right to ask that its granted money be returned.
2. If a grantee is unable to complete his/her project for any reason and at any point in the project’s development, Rimon reserves the right to ask that its granted money be returned.
Change in Project Direction:
1. If a project substantially changes direction, the Grantee must notify the Rimon Director before the change takes place.
2. The change must be approved by the Rimon Director together with the Art Project Support Grant Advisory Chair.
3. If the change is not approved, and as a result the project is abandoned, Rimon reserves the right to ask that its granted money be returned.
Acknowledgement:
Funded projects must credit Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council in all promotional materials with the following legend:
This project was made possible in part with the support of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council, an initiative of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation.
Final Report:
When Rimon provides assistance, the project contact person is required to provide a written follow-up report on the project within two months of the project’s end date. The report should contain, among other things, the following:
1. A brief description of the project as it was implemented;
2. Audience attendance and demographic information, if available;
3. The role of collaborating organizations;
4. The goals that were met;
5. Documentation (e.g., photos, brochures, media coverage);
6. A summary of key findings (if planning or research project);
7. A final budget;
8. Information on how Rimon’s assistance made a difference to the project;
9. A statement of how the artist grew, professionally or personally, as a result of executing this project;
10. The impact this project had on the community.
Failure to submit a final report deems grantee ineligible for future grants.
Need Help?
If you want assistance determining if your project is ready to submit, contact Rimon at rimon@bfcampus.org or 952-381-3449 at least two weeks in advance of the deadline.
Examples of previous Rimon projects:
Artistic development and/or production:
- Ghost Stories: Rimon provided funding to writer Margie Newman to create Ghost Stories, a series of readings produced throughout the Twin Cities by five Minnesota women writers exploring a common theme: how historical trauma in their community’s and family’s life affected the day-to-day life of subsequent generations.
- Twin Cities Jewish Middle School ceramic mural: Rimon provided monetary support for a sculptural ceramic mural created by students from the Twin Cities Jewish Middle School and Talmud Torah of St. Paul. The mural was permanently installed at the Talmud Torah and drew its inspiration from the morning prayers (T'filat Shacharit) and the themes of rebirth, recommitment, and gratitude.
- Etty: Rimon provided funding to partially underwrite the Minnesota tour of a one-woman play based on the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum who died in the Holocaust. Susan Stein, who adapted and performed Etty, also developed with Rimon’s support a teaching residency program in prisons which she has subsequently implemented worldwide.
- Izun/Mizan: Rimon offered financial assistance to support screenings of significant films on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, followed by post-film discussion, at local and regional religious centers, colleges, and universities
Marketing and Outreach Assistance:
- Sukkot Celebration: Rimon provided Jewish resource information as well as public relations and marketing assistance to the Minnesota Children's Museum for their programming celebrating the holiday of Sukkot.
- Community planning and collaboration
- Hallelujah/Minneapolis: Rimon partnered with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, the Walker Art Center, Minnesota Dance Alliance, and Intermedia Arts to assist in the creation of Hallelujah/Minneapolis, a nine-month residency culminating in a performance at the Walker's Sculpture Garden. As a community partner for the project, Rimon helped organize performance workshops and assembled a corps of two dozen performers from throughout the Jewish community who participated in the piece’s creation and performance.
- Opening Minds, Opening Doors: Rimon partnered with Outsiders & Others Gallery and the Mental Health Education Project to create a gallery show and panel discussion on the subject of art and mental health in the Jewish community. Seven Jewish Minnesota artists, ranging widely in age and experience, were selected for a well-attended, much discussed curated exhibit. Research and administrative assistance
- Sheltering Home Chronicles: Rimon provided research and administrative assistance to a fledgling project of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. The project’s curator had expressed interest in working with artists to tell the story of a social service institution (Jewish Sheltering Home for Children in North Minneapolis) and its evolution into a shelter serving homeless adolescents from across Minnesota. Rimon’s assistance included assembling lists of potential artists and collaborators, evaluating the organizational progress of the project, and helping with grant preparation.