Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Neal Cuthbert - Season 8, Episode 99

Since his retirement from The McKnight Foundation after 25 years, Neal Cuthbert has beenconsulting with various nonprofits and businesses and recently served as the Interim Co-Executive Director of the Cedar Cultural Center. During his last decade at McKnight Neal wasthe Vice-President of Program where all programs and program staff reported to him and heoversaw an annual grantmaking budget of $90+ million. While VP he helped create a workplace that received a national Great Place to Work awards, national recognition for a highly regarded approach to philanthropy, created McKnight’s first approach to evaluation, and led the creation and oversaw the management of several of McKnight’s funding intermediaries, including Youthprise, the Southeast Asia Development Program in Phnom Penh Cambodia, and the six rural Minnesota Initiative Foundations, among others.Prior to being VP, Neal was McKnight’s Arts Program Director for 16 years. In addition toframing up McKnight’s arts program, under his leadership the program received numerousawards and provided between $8-12 million annually to support arts organizations and artistsin Minnesota. In addition to making grants, he developed several reports including anexamination of arts development in the suburbs, two economic impact studies, the impact ofthe arts in rural communities, and the condition of individual artists. He also oversaw theexpansion of McKnight’s artist fellowship programs, established the Distinguished Artist Award, and co-developed the artist website, mnartists.org. After the Dance Alliance closed he worked closely with members of the dance community to create two dance community convenings in order to assess community needs and bring people together. Prior to McKnight he was the director/publisher of the monthly art and culture journal, Artpaper, and a planner at the Metropolitan Council in the arts program and housing program where he authored several studies including a study of homelessness, an economic impact study of the arts, and an examination of arts audiences. Neal was born and raised in Detroit and in addition to hisconsulting work exhibits artwork and curates exhibitions and programs at Homewood Studios on the northside of Minneapolis, serving as its Permanent Guest Curator.