The McKnight Foundation has selected visual artist Jim Denomie to receive the 2019 Distinguished Artist Award, a $50,000 gift created to honor a Minnesota artist who has made significant contributions to the state’s cultural life. Denomie, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe, combines vivid hues and disarming humor in powerful narrative …
We all want to leave behind for our children and grandchildren a safe, healthy, and vibrant Minnesota. Whether we live in a big city or a small town, we can ensure cleaner air and water if we work together with our neighbors, business owners, and government leaders to demand a transition to an equitable clean …
Wanted: 21st-Century Working Artists Must have skills and experience in activating beauty and wonder; increasing empathy and awareness of issues; making and communicating meaning; catalyzing social cohesion; provoking and holding space for inquiry and dialogue; and engaging and mobilizing people. The McKnight Foundation supports working artists because they craft the context for democracy and deepen …
Farming is in Geoffrey and Leann Johnson’s blood. Leann grew up a farm girl near Mountain Lake, in southwestern Minnesota. For 34 years, she and Geof have made their home on his family farm near Windom. They’re active in the community with things like the local theater, township board, FFA, and they give to the …
Jumping up and down with squeals of delight, a group of small children watched wide-eyed as a fire engine pulled up in front of their child care provider’s home. Fortunately, the responders were not there for an emergency but for a special outreach to meet providers in Grant County in west central Minnesota and distribute …
The Initiative Foundation in Little Falls serves a diverse landscape in Central Minnesota. Its focus is the economy, community and philanthropy of the 14-county region with an emphasis on economic development, community collaborations, early childhood initiatives and the preservation and celebration of Central Minnesota’s assets and natural resources. Over the next 10 years, Central Minnesota’s …
The McKnight Foundation Midwest Climate & Energy program focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, at scale, as quickly as possible in the Midwest. In the last year, the program has been expanding support for climate solutions on natural and working lands—our rangelands, farms, and forestlands—that support life and livelihoods, recognizing that we need to partner …
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report confirms what communities around the globe, including here in the Midwest, have known for decades: climate change is affecting the lives of billions of people around the world—creating dangerous disruptions that hit under-resourced communities hardest. Too often, these same communities are left out of conversations about …
Protecting our planet so everyone can thrive requires transforming how we produce and use electricity. The McKnight Foundation supports bold action on the climate crisis, recognizing the urgent need to reduce carbon pollution, at scale, as quickly as possible in the Midwest. Through its Midwest Climate & Energy program, McKnight supports clean energy policies, regulatory …
Within the United States, the Midwest is one of the largest emitters of carbon pollution. To reduce carbon pollution at scale at the speed necessary, we must act collectively. For that reason, the McKnight Foundation supports bold action on the climate crisis, recognizing that economy-wide decarbonization requires transforming our energy system. It also calls for …