McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists Grant

McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Textile Center Of Minnesota
Amount: US $25,000
Last Updated: March 01, 2026

Summary

The McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists support talented Minnesota artists with a significant body of work in fiber art for at least eight years. Each fellow receives a $25,000 unrestricted award, along with professional development opportunities, critiques, and public exhibitions. This initiative emphasizes racial equity and inclusivity, welcoming diverse cultural perspectives in the arts community. The program recognizes mid-career artists, fostering their ongoing creativity and contributions to Minnesota's vibrant arts ecosystem.

Overview

The McKnight Foundation The McKnight Foundation, a family foundation based in Minnesota, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. The McKnight Artist Fellowships support the conviction that the arts cannot flourish or enhance community life without the ideas, energy, and drive of individual artists, and that artists cannot make these contributions without unfettered creative time. A focus on racial equity is at the heart of the McKnight approach to funding. The McKnight Foundation and Textile Center welcome and encourage applications from artists and culture bearers representing diverse cultural perspectives and our organizations value diversity and equity, seeking to be inclusive  and accessible to all applicants. Established in 1981, the McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships provide annual, unrestricted cash McKnight Fellowships in Fiber Arts- Guidelines for the 2024 award year 2 awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists The intent of the McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists is to recognize and support talented Minnesota fiber and textile artists whose work is of exceptional artistic and cultural merit, who have created a significant body of work over a period of at least 8 years, representing a sustained investigation and maturation of personal creativity and accomplishment in, and commitment to the field of fiber art and Minnesota’s arts ecosystem. These fellowships are in support of artists who are at a career stage beyond emerging. Fiber Artists, as defined for the purposes of this fellowship, are artists who use textile and fiber arts materials, processes, histories, traditions, and/or sensibilities in their artistic and creative practice throughout the conception, execution, and resolution of their work. In addition to the $25,000 unrestricted award in support of their creative work and practice, McKnight Fiber Artist Fellows will receive: Critiques/studio visits with experts from the creative field. Exhibition at the end of the fellowship period (January – March) in the Joan Mondale and Mary Giles Galleries at Textile Center. Participation in a public discussion that features fellows and an invited critic or expert from the field. Professional development support, such as attending conferences, workshops, marketing, or assistance for an exhibit during the fellowship period. Professional photography of work and the installation at Textile Center Presence on Textile Center’s website, including a virtual exhibition to accompany the onsite exhibit. Access to Textile Center’s resources, including library, dye lab, and artisan shop opportunities. Professional support sessions from consultants at Springboard for the Arts. Opportunity to apply to McKnight Foundation’s new residency partnership with the Artist Communities Alliance, following the fellowship year.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Eligibility Requirements for all Artist Fellowships, per the McKnight Foundation Must have Minnesota residency for at least 1 year prior to the application deadline (or since December 4, 2022 or earlier).Must maintain Minnesota residency for the duration of the fellowship period, March 1, 2024 – February 28, 2025.Fellows who travel for work outside of the state during the fellowship year should be in the state for at least six months (at least 183 days), and should have a plan to return to Minnesota.Awardees must have a Social Security Number or Tax ID (as needed to process payments).Must be midcareer (or beyond), with a body of work that demonstrates a sustained level of accomplishment, commitment, and artistic excellence.These fellowships are a recognition of the recipient’s significant body of work to date, creative achievement, and their sustained contribution to their artistic field and to Minnesota’s arts ecosystem.Applicants can only apply to one McKnight Artist Fellowship in ANY artistic discipline within a given fellowship year.Applicants to this fellowship program will NOT be eligible to apply for any other 2024 McKnight Artist Fellowship.Must not have been a recipient of a McKnight Artist Fellowship within any artistic discipline in the last 5 award years. (All 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 McKnight Fellows are ineligible.)Must demonstrate growth and ongoing artistry and creativity since their most recent McKnight Artist Fellowship, if they received one previously.Applicants must not be current staff, board, or immediate family of the McKnight Foundation, or McKnight’s fellowship administrative partner in the discipline for which you are applying.Independent contractors and faculty are not considered staff and are therefore eligible to apply.Must not be enrolled full-time in any academic program. (Low-Residency MFA programs and Ph.D. candidates who have completed all requirements except their dissertations are not considered “full-time” students.) Eligibility Requirements for Fiber Artist Fellowships, specifically Must be midcareer (or beyond) with an extensive, independent body of creative work created over a period of at least 8 years—not including work done during a degree seeking academic program—representing a sustained investigation and maturation of personal creativity, accomplishment, and commitment to the field of fiber art.Must currently be producing work that falls within an art or cultural context, grounded in the field of fiber and textiles through materials, process, history, tradition, or sensibilities.Must demonstrate a high aesthetic level of ability, strong consistency of expression, and an established personal voice over the course of a sustained career.Must have made a significant impact in the field of fiber art in the region, state, or nation as demonstrated by respect of peers and community, contributions to excellence, and public recognition of the creative form through exhibiting, teaching, preserving, mentoring, advocacy, and/or other.