CURA’s Artist Neighborhood Partnership Initiative (ANPI) provides small grants to artists of color and Native artists working in neighborhoods in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs. ANPI grants recognize the valuable role that artists and the arts play in the work of fostering neighborhood wellbeing, and are intended to support the leadership of artists in these efforts. This grant program is particularly focused on directly funding individual artists or groups of artists working to build a more equitable Twin Cities.

We are…


Kaysone and Sunny live in and/or have roots in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and North Minneapolis, where some of Minnesota's largest populations of South East Asians (SEA) live. The team will focus on engaging community members to explore the feeling of being stuck between two worlds - neither here nor there - and highlight the narratives of the diaspora voice and whether a sense of belonging can be found in their neighborhoods.

The artist team will engage communities in telling their stories through outreach of interviews, conversations, and gatherings. The project will conclude with a street theatre performance with the artist team and community members in…


The West Side of Saint Paul is a community that was able to create itself in its place, integrating and feeding the social, economical and cultural dynamics with new practices. And within that evolution the people have not lost their identity matrix. This identity is also a multicolored mosaic of identities of diverse regions of Central and South America that add and juxtapose each other to create the new reality of Saint Paul. In the face of anti-immigration policies of the present administration that attack basic humanitarian principles and break the community, the immigrant and the native communities of Saint Paul make efforts to transform their reality into a more positive…


The Frogtown and Rondo communities have two of the most well established identities in the City of Saint Paul. In the words of the artists, "We are known for being a largely working class, scrappy, artistic, incredibly diverse bunch of humans who have roots all over the planet. We brought the history, stories, tastes and smells to the heart of St. Paul to be shared, explored, and celebrated."

The story of these neighboring communities – two communities divided first by freeway, then by arbitrary district designation, and finally by train, is a story that must be told and preserved. Mychal and Tou Saiko will be creating a colorful, music - poetry - and dance-centered,…

YO MAMA’S Water(ing) (W)hole WATER BARS hold spaces for serving water to inform Mothers about the connections between water, care, community, and wellness in Minnesota. Through the activities of Gyrating & Hydrating: dancing and making fruit and plant based waters and Resilience Preparedness Workshops, Black (and IPOC) Mothers, living in North Minneapolis, gain awareness that climate change, extreme weather conditions and manmade disasters have profound impact on their physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. We are learning that water is life.

With Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha, East Side Freedom Library, UMN Labor Education Services, PoliGraphix, Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia, New Brookwood Labor College

The Ones We've Been Waiting For

In collaboration with community and labor organizations, I will paint a series of portraits of low‐wage worker leaders ‐‐ mostly people of color and immigrants ‐‐ with the aim of (1) encouraging workers to see themselves as leaders, individually and also in solidarity with each other, (2) bridging the “formal” and “informal” labor movements (unions vs. other working class organizing efforts), (3) expanding the base of these organizations as well as…

Hmong American Film Director Bao understands too well from personal experience that depression feels isolating, but it doesn’t have to feel hopeless. Part of the isolation feeling comes from the lack of stories that represent Asian communities, like her own, that the media shares about depression. Therefore, she wants to use the power of video storytelling to create a short narrative film about how three members of the Asian community in the Northwest suburbs of Minneapolis experience depression and share the ways they’ve learned to cope with it. Exploring the stories of this population and location is important not only because it represents their lived experience, but also that…

Rondo Family Reunion

The Rondo Family Reunion will bring together the “Rondo Diaspora”, people of African descent who have lived and/or currently live in the Historic Rondo Neighborhood, to capture photographs and stories that will be shared with the community via a lawn sign photo and poetry project, a book, and a final performance at Penumbra Theater.

About the artists:

Chris Scott’s work as a photographer is conceptually driven currently by themes that relate to human condition, social issues, and the architecture of “community.” She was born, raised and currently live in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul. Clarence…

Renters Rights are Human Rights

Renters Rights are Human Rights is a collaboration between the Minneapolis Renters Coalition, Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, and Artist Cori Lin. This series of murals and portraits will deepen community understanding around what it means to live as a cost-burdened renter by highlighting the narratives and experiences of those spending more than 30% of their income on rent. The project will include four portraits of cost-burdened renters across Greater Powderhorn and four infographics that reflect this reality, which will be temporarily be installed in businesses and community sites across Greater Powderhorn, before becoming part of a large-…

New Futures

New Futures focuses on rebuilding community and culture in South Minneapolis. Traditional Ojibwe Style lacrosse has been played in the Great Lakes regions long before Europeans set foot on this continent. The game itself is more than just a sport: it is a ceremony that has artistic value as well, and the game is thought to contain a connection to one’s spiritual nature. New Futures will teach 12 Native youth a variety of woodworking skills to help create traditional Ojibwe lacrosse sticks. Youth will be paid a stipend for working towards mastering the skills required to produce steam bent, tournament-ready Lacrosse sticks. Youth will be able to teach others how to make…