Member Spotlight on The McKnight Foundation
During the month of January, GIA's photo banner features work and projects sponsored by The McKnight Foundation. For more than 60 years, McKnight has been seeking to improve the quality of life for present and future generations. Its grantmaking is primarily focused in the state of Minnesota where the foundation is established.
McKnight’s arts program is founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive. It supports working artists to create and contribute to vibrant communities. In 2013, about 11% of McKnight’s total grantmaking payout — more than $9.5 million — went to organizations working to advance this goal.
As Lorri Todd, reception and facilities manager, explains in a current McKnight blog post:
The Foundation decided (a decade ago), to relocate McKnight’s office space from a nondescript downtown office to its current site in the Washburn A Mill building, on the western bank of the Mississippi River. Although we only moved about a mile, the resulting changes in McKnight’s practices, culture, and grantee relationships were monumental.
Currently, the new McKnight space is open to over 3,900 people at over 150 mission-related meetings and convenings connected to 8 distinct program areas. An additional benefit to the current office spaces are two walls on the main floor that create a gallery space. In the gallery, named in honor of McKnight family member Cynthia Boynton Binger, artists are visually connecting the program areas to a broader audience through their art. Over the last decade these have included photographs from the Mekong River, digital reproductions of Neuroscience slides, murals made by youth, and individual artists’ work among others.