The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural change-makers who are committed to advancing the role of art, culture and creativity in rural development and community building.
Each fellow receives $10,000 in flexible funds to support or expand their existing work, plus opportunities for learning, exchange, and solidarity-building with their cohort of fellow rural artists.
For its first three years, the Rural Regenerator Fellowship has been open to all rural artists in the Upper Midwest. The 2024-26 Fellowship focuses specifically on supporting rural artists whose work is connected to land, environment, and/or food systems. This new level of focus aims to amplify and support the urgent work of environmental stewardship in order to collectively contribute to long term change and support existing movements.
Going forward, we anticipate that future Rural Regenerator Fellowships cohorts will rotate more specific areas of focus, in order to provide a platform for solidarity across rural geographies that address challenges and opportunities in the Midwest, and to focus on our goals of providing specific resources and building collective power.
Image Credit: artists from WEdances Movement Collaborative perform a new work as part of the 2023 Rural Futures Summit, hosted by Springboard for the Arts in Fergus Falls, MN. Photo by Rayshele Kamke.
Meet the Fellows

The 2024-26 Rural Regenerator Fellows are Hannah Breckbill, Megan L. Bull Bear, Shelley Buffalo, Monica Cady, Lynne Colombe, Lera Hephner, Regina M. Laroche, Chrystal A. Odin, Marcella Prokop, Susan Mayo, Alejandra (Alex) Sanchez, and Stephen Robert Webster.

The 2023-25 Rural Regenerator Fellows are Mary Knox Johnson, Keith Pilapil Lesmeister, Franciszka Voeltz, Ne-Dah-Ness Greene, Anni Zylstra, Karrie Steely, Kyle Mesteth, Courtney Bunker, Erika Nelson, Mary Ellen Jones, Andrea V. Duarte-Alonso, and Klaire A. Lockheart.

The 2022-24 Rural Regenerator Fellows are Penny Kagigebi, Wicanhpi Iyotan Win Autumn Cavender, Melissa Wray, Lyle Miller Sr., Awanigiizhik Bruce, Siricasso Garcia, Rufus Jupiter, Nancy XiáoRong Valentine, and Eliza Blue.

The 2021-23 Rural Regenerator Fellows are Alice M McGary, Amber Hansen, Annie Hough, Bethany Lacktorin, Talon Bazille, Mai'a Williams, Molly Hassler, J Erin Hutchinson, Inkpa Mani, Sandra Kern Mollman, and Elisha Marin.

Go in-depth on the current cohort of Fellows with a series of features on Creative Exchange.
FAQ
If you think your creative work lifts up, expands or is rooted in these issues, it does. It might be because of the materials you use, the partners you work with, the themes in your work, or the place that your work happens.
While the definition is not perfect, we generally follow the USDA's definition of rural, which is a town or tribal community of fewer than 50,000 people that is ALSO at least 40 miles from a metro area*. However, this definition, like so many others, is imperfect and there is always nuance in how our communities self-identify. If your community does not fit the above parameters, but you and your community still identify with the term "rural," we encourage you make the case for this in your application.
* metro is generally defined as a city or combo of nearby cities that is 100,000 people or more.
The program is still new, but in 2021, we received 141 applications, and accepted 10 Fellows.
In 2022, 23% of applicants were BIPOC, 24% LGBTQIA+, and 33% people with disabilities. 50% of applicants were from Minnesota, and the remaining were from other eligible states in the Midwest.
You might be. We understand that people’s relationship to place is nuanced and multi-centered. Regardless of residency, each applicant will need to explain and demonstrate their commitment to and experience working in rural communities, and their resumes should reflect this experience.