Bao Phi is the Arts & Culture program officer at the McKnight Foundation.

Bao is also a poet, an author, and a spoken word artist. He’s a two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist. Bao shared information about the history of spoken word and his experience and enjoyment of the art. His poetry is included in The Best American Poetry 2006 anthology and published widely elsewhere. And, he’s also a children’s book author. Born in Saigon shortly before the mass exodus of his family and many others to the United States, Bao is a Vietnamese American raised in south Minneapolis.

Prior to McKnight, Bao worked for nearly 23 years at the Loft Literary Center in a few roles, including managing the McKnight Artist Fellowship program in Creative Writing.

Support for individual artists is a focus of the McKnight Foundation’s Arts & Culture program. McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships provide $25,000 in unrestricted support for midcareer artists and discipline-specific artistic and professional development opportunities. Bao spoke about the various McKnight Fellowships and the partner organizations that manage them.

In addition to the fellowship program, McKnight provides multiyear general operating funds to artist and culture bearer organizations. Their support includes a focus on greater Minnesota and they support regional arts councils (including the NWMAC) to get arts dollars out to all the counties in the state.

Bao has a unique perspective as a working artist that informs his role as administrator. His advice to applicants is to “Be brief and put your best work forward.”

Listen to this engaging conversation to learn more about Bao and the fellowship program.