APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE

2026 – 2028 ACTIVATE RURAL LEARNING LAB IN

MINNESOTA, MONTANA, NORTH DAKOTA, AND SOUTH DAKOTA

The Activate Rural Learning Lab is a 2-year curated cohort experience for teams of creative entrepreneurs, artists, community activators, elected leaders, and small business owners to cultivate creative third places in rural communities. The Learning Lab provides grant funding and ongoing curated technical assistance through monthly project check-ins, exchange visits, workshops and gatherings, and allocated staff time to support the development of systems for the project’s operations, activations, and stewardship.

Ten building activation projects will be selected in rural communities with a population under 20,000 residents in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the Native nations that share that geography. Ideal projects will (1) be creative and community-focused, (2) be ready to try something new, and (3) demonstrate the potential to build local capacity for creative approaches to building activation.

SELECTED BUILDING ACTIVATION PROJECTS WILL RECEIVE:

• A $50,000 unrestricted grant to move their building activation project forward  

• Curated one-on-one technical assistance (monthly check-ins with Activate Rural team and direct support with navigating challenges and opportunities) 

• Supportive cohort peer network

• Project promotion and documentation support (video and storytelling)

• Access to Activate Rural Learning Lab resource guides and workshops

• Travel and lodging costs for 2 core team members to attend 2 in-person cohort gatherings and the Activate Rural Summit

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY 

Eligible building activation projects are:

• Focused on designing a gathering place for community connection through creativity

• Located in a Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana rural community, or Native nation that shares this geography, with a population of around 20,000 or less

• Led by a committed core team of 1-2 artist leads and 2-3 activators (see FAQ for descriptions) and to participate in 2-year cohort experience

• Safe and viable space for active engagement and public events 

• Moving forward in an identified building currently or soon-to-be under contract or ownership by member(s) of the core team and/or project partner(s) with eligible organizational structures (tribal government, municipal government, county government, 501c3 nonprofit, fiscally sponsored group, cooperative)

Informational Session: 2026 – 2028 Activate Rural Learning Lab for Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 | 12 – 1 PM

Virtual via Zoom!

The virtual informational session will provide an overview of the 2026 – 2028 Activate Rural Learning Lab and the application process for building activation projects in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

*A recording of the Informational Session will be made available here

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER FOR THE INFO SESSION HERE!

Applications are open now through February 20, 2026

Each selected applicant will receive a $50,000 unrestricted grant and two years of curated technical assistance.