National Endowment for the Arts Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) is a program of the NEA in partnership with the Housing Assistance Council and design partner, To Be Done Studio. Communities selected to participate will receive at least four Local Design Workshops that address the community’s specific rural design challenge, and a Design Learning Cohort program that will invite approximately twenty rural communities to engage in peer learning and expert led sessions online.

All rural communities with populations of 50,000 or less are eligible to apply for the CIRD opportunities. The NEA welcomes applications from nonprofits, tribal or municipal governments, regional planning organizations, arts organizations, and other community partners. The NEA will hold open office hours on April 11 from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Zoom link here) to assist applicants.

The city of Spring Grove, MN (population 1,200) recently participated in CIRD’s 2021-2022 cycle. Read more about Spring Grove’s Local Design Workshop with CIRD (link here) and the resulting plan to create a one-room schoolhouse for the 21st century (link here).
Will yours be the next Minnesota community to participate?

The Request for Applications contains further details about the program goals, eligibility, benefits, expectations, and a preview of all the application questions.

The deadline to apply is April 21, 2023. Apply now!

Learn more by visiting the CIRD website information page