About Us

Mission

The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council’s mission is to create a healthy art and cultural ecosystem by offering support and resources for artistic professional development and equitable access for arts organizations and individuals to benefit all communities.

Vision

A thriving arts community exists in the Arrowhead Region through resources and opportunities for all arts organizations and individuals.

Values

  • Inclusion

  • Support

  • Creativity

  • Community

  • Sustainability

Goal

Fostering a higher quality of life in the Arrowhead Region by promoting equitable access to and development of the arts.

Service Area

The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council serves individual artists, nonprofit arts organizations, informal arts groups, community education organizations, and non-arts nonprofit organizations, which reside in Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis counties as well as the Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Bois Forte, and Leech Lake nation within Itasca county. This region includes Duluth as it urban center, but also serves a significant rural population. The region comprises 22% of the state’s geography and serves a population of approximately 340,000 people or 6% of the state’s total population.

As one of the 11 regional arts councils in Minnesota, ARAC’s funding is derived from appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund and Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (Legacy Amendment) as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. ARAC also receives a generous grant from The McKnight Foundation.


Our Team

  • Portrait of a smiling woman with long brown hair, wearing colorful earrings and a gray shirt, against a plain white background.

    Rebecca Graves

    Executive Director
    director@aracouncil.org

  • Emma Deaner

    Director of Grants
    grants@aracouncil.org

  • A young woman with long brown hair, fair skin, and a subtle smile wearing a light blue collared shirt and small earrings, posing against a gray background.

    Toni St. Godard

    Grants & Operations Coordinator
    admin@aracouncil.org

  • Empty silhouette of a person on a green background.

    Erin Turner

    Director of Operations
    operations@aracouncil.org

  • Professional woman with glasses, blonde curly hair, wearing a dark blazer and gray top, smiling against a plain background.

    Cheyenne DeMenge

    Outreach & Accessibility Coordinator
    media@aracouncil.org

  • A young woman with black curly hair, glasses, earrings, and a black hoodie smiling in front of a wooden fence.

    Moira (Miri) Villiard

    Grant Writing Specialist
    moira@aracouncil.org


Read more about us in our Biennial Plan