STATE OF THE SHANTYVERSE 2025
Artists and visitors join hands in a dance during the 2025 program. Photo: Ryan Stopera.
2025 BY THE NUMBERS
Last winter we celebrated our 21st year of Art Shanty Projects! By the numbers, we:
- Supported 43 artist projects (with 221 participating artists and performers) with stipends, marketing, co-learning opportunities, material and production support!
- Paid our dedicated staff! 3 year-round directors, 4 seasonal producers, 2 medics, 1 ASL interpreter, 1 Audio Describer, and 1 photographer!
- Piloted a mentorship program, pairing 4 seasoned shanty artists with newer shanty teams for formalized co-learning opportunities
- Greeted ~29,000 visitors during 4 full weekends (or 48 program hours) on the ice!
- Hosted 51 sauna sessions – free to the public – at the East lake Skate & Sauna event in March!
- Spent $198,000 on making all of this happen!
OUR IMPACT
An artist attaches ephemera to the mobile at A Poem for Entangled Living; artists usher visitors out of the dance party at Hot Box: Disco Inferno II. Photos: Ryan Stopera.
The numbers above tell the story of an extremely dedicated team, operating with a very modest budget, supporting artists through their production process with great care, and serving an epic number of people!
The conditions of a Minnesota winter make it an isolating season for many, and for 21 years we have brought people together in it, creatively, to connect and thrive. We are all now living in isolating conditions much greater than a single season, under federal leadership that aims to divide us even more.
Throughout our organization’s growth – from one single shanty with a handful of artists to a whole village that invites the public to join in – we’ve remained commited to our values of community, equity, accessibility, and connection. We subvert winter traditions, redefining who and what belong on a frozen lake. We lean heavily into public art, utilizing creativity as a beacon for gathering and means for connection, and not commodification. We’re here for the weirdos and outdoor adventurers and anyone seeking the uncategorizable, the ineffable, the curious, the rare.
PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT US
People often describe Art Shanty Projects as ‘peak Minneapolis,’ and a cornerstone of the adventurous DIY art scene. MPR news even called us the ‘most iconic Minnesota art festival’ as a nod to our intrepid spirit. Nowhere else in the world will you find anything quite like us!
We find it astounding that our homegrown, scrappy, people-powered project has been highlighted recently by national publications (see: Associated Press, NBC Nightly News, New York Times, to name just a few). They’re taking note of the impact of the work we do within our Minneapolis community.
As we experience a very different national campaign against our shared values, we need individual support more than ever.
OUR CURRENT WORK + OUR 2026 SEASON
Artists from the Sync Hole at their build visit in fall of 2025, artists and members of the public at a community build for Disinteshanty in December 2025. Photos by ASP staff
People need access to food, healthcare, and education. We also need places to socialize, build solidarity, nurture relationships and express ourselves. Engaging with both friends and strangers in public space is particularly important.
There is no one way to address what we’re encountering in this specific moment, and artists are interpreting ‘what do we need, here, now?’ with a variety of outputs. From proposal to production, they have shown efforts towards community care, radical joy, and eagerness for dialogue.
As we head into our 22nd season, we are proud to present intentionally chosen, curated projects that grapple with our world, creatively.
Visitors will encounter contemplative projects on epidemics and climate change alongside exuberant celebrations of queerness. Artists are providing ways to reconnect with our own bodies in shared space through varied collective movement – yoga, both subtle and rollicking dance, traditional indigenous games. There’s humor, epic storytelling, puppets (are you even in S MPLS without puppets?!), reverence for water, and some very loud music.
Art is not neutral.
Public joy is an act of rebellion.
Community connection is an act of resistance.
2026 FUNDING BREAKDOWN
An artist peers through an ice ring. Photo: ASP staff
Our radical approach is what makes people love and celebrate us! It’s also what makes traditional funding avenues more challenging. We’ve always operated on the margins, and without major corporate support or billionaire board members. And we’re not open to compromising our values for a slim chance at a few big bucks. We continue to rely on modest gifts from many people to fuel our village.
2026 Projected Income Breakdown
- 50% Individual donations (on-ice program, online giving/membership, silent auction)
- 40 % Program Grants
- 6% Earned income (merch sales and food vendor fees)
- 5% Community partnerships (local businesses)
We operate with a lean budget with most of our funds going towards paying people, and the remainder towards necessary production and administrative needs.
2026 Projected Expense Breakdown:
- 80% Paying people (artists, mentors, staff, ASL interpreter, audio describer, photographer, contractors)
- 10% Program management (permits, plowing, supplies, sanitation, equipment rental, etc)
- 5% Ops and Admin (software subscriptions, office supplies, storage fees)
- 5% Fundraising and marketing (printing, merch, special event costs)
SUPPORT ART SHANTY PROJECTS TODAY
Scene from the Pollinator Frenzy while snow falls, 2025. Photo: Ryan Stopera
We exist BECAUSE of you. And FOR you.
We’re a people-powered organization. Over 50% of our income is by way of modest gifts from many individual donors.
To keep Art Shanty Projects available to anyone who wants to venture out with us, with no admission, we rely on donations from people who have the means.
We ask that you give joyfully, in an amount that is meaningful to you and your financial situation, whether that’s $5, $50, $500 or more.
Thank you for showing up!