SMSU receives $35,000 Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for arts experiences

Southwest Minnesota State University received a Minnesota State Arts grant for 2026. SMSU was awarded a $35,000 Arts Experiences grant to support the Visiting Writers Series during spring and fall semesters in 2026.  SMSU’s Visiting Writers Series will welcome acclaimed writers to campus for craft talks and publicly available literary events. 

Spring semester 2026:

Jennifer Eli Bowen will read and sign books on Thursday, April 2, in Charter Hall 201, starting at 7 p.m.; it is free and open to the public. She is a writer, arts instructor, and editor. Her work has received a Pushcart Prize, The Arts and Letters Prize, and the Tim McGinnis Award, and her writing has appeared in The Sun magazine, The Iowa Review, Orion, and Kenyon Review. The founder of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, she lives in St. Paul, a block in any direction from sidewalk poetry and snow. Her debut book of non-fiction, “The Book of Kin: On Absence, Love and Being There,” is a finalist for the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards in the memoir and creative non-fiction category. 

Poet Michael Kleber-Diggs will read and sign books on Monday, April 13, in Charter Hall 201, starting at 7 p.m.; it is free and open to the public. Kleber-Diggs is the author of Worldly Things, which was awarded the 2020 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. He was born and raised in Kansas and now lives in St. Paul. His work has appeared in Lit Hub, the Rumpus, Rain Taxi, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Water~Stone Review, Midway Review, North Dakota Quarterly, and a few anthologies. He teaches poetry and creative non-fiction through the Minnesota Prison Writers Workshop.

The Arts Experiences is a pilot program that supports individuals and organizations in providing meaningful arts experiences for Minnesotans within their communities. Funds may be used for a variety of arts programming such as creating and/or presenting concerts, plays, tours, exhibitions, arts festivals, public art, or other kinds of activities that provide Minnesotans opportunities to engage in arts activities that are instilled into community or public life.

Professor Jessie Hennen, director of the Creative Writing Program at SMSU, authored the grant and coordinates the Visiting Writers Series. The Visiting Writers Series in 2026 is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

SMSU Jazz Ensemble to perform March 23-24 with guest guitarist Mike Dana

The Southwest Minnesota State University Jazz Ensemble will present two concerts on March 23 and 24, featuring guest guitarist Mike Dana, a nationally recognized jazz musician, composer, and educator.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Dana has performed and recorded with many of jazz’s most influential artists and has contributed numerous original compositions to the genre. His visit to SMSU offers audiences a unique opportunity to experience live performances with a seasoned jazz professional.

The concerts will also highlight talented student musicians from area high schools, reinforcing SMSU’s ongoing commitment to music education and community collaboration.

The first concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 23, at Murray County Central High School in Slayton, and will feature the Murray County Central Jazz Band.

The second concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, in the SMSU Fine Arts Theatre and will feature the Minneota High School Jazz Band and the Marshall High School Jazz Band.

Both concerts are free and open to the public.

This activity is funded in part by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, made possible by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.