Online: Activate Rural Workshop How to Keep the Lights on in Your Creative Space

Activate Rural Workshop: How To Keep The Lights On At Your Creative Place

Date + Time: Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 12PM – 1:30PM CST
Location: Virtual – Zoom

Join the Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) for a virtual Activate Rural Workshop on Wednesday, March 4, from 12–1:30 PM CST, featuring rural artists and activators who are finding creative ways to keep the lights on. This workshop dives into the practical realities of funding for day-to-day operations, programming, and building stewardship.

Courtney Bergey Swanson, Activate Rural Associate Director, will share some innovative ways that rural arts organizations have tackled funding, revenue, and staffing challenges, along with some practical resources you can implement in your project. Panelists will share insights on budgets, revenue mix, partnerships, grants, earned income, and the challenges of long-term sustainability.

The panel will be moderated by Sarina Otaibi, Activate Rural Program Director at DoPT, with the following guest speakers:

– Kara Maloney is the Executive Director of Lanesboro Arts in Lanesboro, MN (pop. 712). Lanesboro Arts is a nonprofit, multidisciplinary arts organization activating the people and places of Lanesboro by empowering and creating opportunities for artists. The organization offers accessible programs, including visual art galleries, performing arts at the St. Mane Theatre, an annual fine arts fair, artist residencies, public art projects, and educational outreach.

– Elisha Marin is the Executive Director of the Freeborn County Arts Initiative in Albert Lea, MN (pop. 18,159). The Freeborn County Arts Initiative, located in a former Opera Palace, encourages the exploration of new ideas, art forms and self-expression through the arts. The organization hosts a wide variety of special events from pop-up shows to open mic nights and documentary screenings to street concerts and operates a gallery featuring bimonthly exhibitions. Elisha is also renovating the Historic YWCA Building in Mason City, IA.

This virtual workshop is free, but registration is required. For workshop and registration questions, please contact Courtney Bergey Swanson, Activate Rural Associate Director, at courtney@publictransformation.org.

Registration is available here: link.publictransformation.org/ARPWSMar4

This workshop is a part of the Activate Rural Public Workshop Series, workshops and sessions designed to offer support, peer learning, and resources to creative entrepreneurs, artists, organizations and small business owners with creative third places in rural communities. This program is supported, in part, by the State of Minnesota through a grant from The Office of Small Business Development, Department of Employment and Economic Development.