The North Dakota Council on the Arts has awarded nearly 200 grants totaling more than $1 million through its fiscal year 2026 grant programs.
The grants support eligible artists, schools and organizations around the state.
Jessica Christy is Executive Director. She says communities and artists depend on these programs, which foster connection and creativity.
"They're not just what we think of as arts activity centers, they function as a community hub. So they are multifunctional; a lot of individuals rely on these dollars. And they reach a whole host of individuals in our state."
Christy says growing interest in artificial intelligence does cause concern in arts spaces, but says overall there will be some things AI will just never be able to do.
"A lot of people, when they envision art, they just see a painting on the wall or a performance. But it's so much more than that. It's what it takes to get to that point; it's process, it's an understanding, it's practice, it's all of the work that it takes to get to the creation of that product. It's all of that, and it's doing that with others. AI can't do that. It won't create the community that comes out of the making."
Christy says the NDCA is typically able to award about 2/3 of their yearly budget to these grants, and this year’s amount is on par with that.