The Creative Midwest Media Cohort including staff from Barn Raiser, The Buckeye Flame, Buffalo’s Fire, Detroit Metro Times, Dovetail, Hola Iowa, Input Fort Wayne, Project Optimist, Sixty Inches From Center, and SDPB.
A lot can happen when you give local media the funding, flexibility, and community to cover arts and culture in the Midwest.
How can Arts Midwest support media coverage for arts and culture in the Midwest?
That question led to the design and launch of our Creative Midwest Media Cohort pilot program in 2024.
At the time, we were deepening our own commitment to storytelling. But we knew we weren’t the only ones doing this kind of work. We wanted to support and connect others across the region who were also telling powerful stories of Midwestern creativity.
So, in 2024 we invited 10 Midwest-based media organizations to be part of the Creative Midwest Media Cohort. Each outlet received a $15,000 grant to create a project focused on arts, culture, and creativity in the Midwest.
We structured it as a year-long pilot program, so that we could support work being done over an extended period, meet in person, and learn from the experience together.
21
Cohort Participants
140+
Midwest Cities Covered in Stories
210+
Artists Featured in Stories
Special Projects & Stories
In total, participating organizations published close to 120 stories about Midwestern creativity through the program, produced by more than 50 media professionals and creatives. It’s estimated that these stories received upwards of 127k views cumulatively.
Buffalo’s Fire interviewed scientists, historians, vendors, and artists, all of whom explained how the long-prized dentalium shells remain in demand after centuries of use.
Focused on contemporary artists based in or with ties to the Midwest, Fields delves into artistic influences and stories that extend around the world while illuminating experiences connecting us all.
Meet the inaugural Fellows and Runner-Ups for the Midwest Arts Writers Fellowship: Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond, Yonci Jameson, Juleana Enright, and Nasreen Khan.
When BonJo moved to Fort Wayne during her junior year of high school, she began immersing herself in the local art community, but she was an artist long before that.
“Wings of an Eagle” is a new children’s book that chronicles the Olympic trials of gold medalist Billy Mills. The book’s author, illustrator and subject speak to a live audience in SDPB’s studio.
Luchadores is a photo documentary project by artist, photographer, professional multi-hyphenate, Miriam Alarcón Avila, who interviewed Latino immigrants in Iowa.
What We Learned
When there’s support for experimentation, creative things happen
It was important to us to keep the program guidelines flexible, include different types of organizations, and provide financial support that could make impactful projects possible.
Each organization received a project grant to amplify stories of arts, culture, and creativity in the Midwest. Experimentation was encouraged—and most of the organizations explored new-to-them coverage areas, themes, mediums, formats, and so on. They created all kinds of media, from multimedia series and print publications, to a writer’s residency program and social media videos.
Here are a few highlights:
Detroit Metro Times produced their first Reels series to accompany their artist features.
Project Optimist launched a solutions-led arts and nature series, Biophilia.
The Buckeye Flame started a rural artist series and reported from Ohio counties they hadn’t covered before. This has now led to them creating—the first and only, that we know of—Rural LGBTQ+ beat and staff writer role!
Buffalo’s Fire published a six-part series on dentalium, its history and trade routes, and current cultural and artistic practices.
“I really enjoyed many of the side conversations and the chance to spend time hearing about the experiences, challenges and problem-solving work that the other folks are doing.”
PARTICIPANT, CREATIVE MIDWEST MEDIA COHORT
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
The Creative Midwest Media Cohort during a two-day gathering in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Regional connections allow for deeper peer learning
Local competition can sometimes stifle conversation, so our goal was to bring people from different markets and various media types together. We found that this was really successful on the organizational as well as individual level.
Cohort participants shared openly about internal operations and connected in a personal way as they talked about reporting in their communities.
In their feedback, many shared that they would’ve liked more unstructured connection moments and extended time for small group discussions as those felt most impactful.
Virtual settings can be tricky
Online apps like Zoom provided us an accessible way to connect folks from across the region over the course of the year, but it also limited the ways we could expand our conversations.
In the next iteration of this program, we’d likely facilitate the virtual sessions a little differently: inviting more exchanges, learning opportunities and cohort-led breakouts.
Luckily, we were able to meet in person to build on the connections made in virtual spaces.
Arts coverage is a boon—and a balm
Over the past three years, we’ve heard again and again: readers are hungry for arts coverage, even if it’s not always a top priority for funders or editorial teams.
Stories about art, culture, and creativity consistently spark meaningful engagement. They add depth and nuance to news coverage. And they reflect local communities. In moments of overwhelming headlines, they offer a necessary balm.
We’re thrilled that many of the cohort organizations continue to intentionally incorporate arts and culture reporting into their work—a significant win at a time when local cultural coverage is shrinking.
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
Randiah Camille Green, a freelance writer based in Detroit, at the Creative Midwest Media Cohort gathering in Minneapolis.
We need more of this
Many cohort organizations were able to engage their community in new ways through the program’s support, creating flexibility in their newsrooms and dimensionality to their coverage. And outcomes weren’t just editorial—they were relational. People left the cohort with new collaborators, sounding boards, and allies across the region.
And as one of them simply put it: “We need more projects like this.”
Professional development of this kind across a wide region is hard to sustain without staffing support and consistent funding.
This remains one of the only programs we’ve seen that brings together media professionals focused on arts, culture, and creativity while also offering space and funding to experiment and grow. We were grateful to receive startup funding from Good Chaos to pilot the program, but the future of funding it is uncertain.
That uncertainty isn’t unique to Arts Midwest. Every organization in the program faces the same pressures, including funding gaps to understaffing and burnout.
It’s clear: If we want to see more of this kind of reporting, it needs dedicated support.
These media professionals spent time getting to know each other, learning from their peers in the Twin Cities area, and reflecting on different models of working.
The founder of southwestern Minnesota nonprofit Creative Healing Space always hated to see litter on the ground. Now she has two pieces that embody the pain and resilience of the earth.
Kade Hirth’s therapy practice ditches the couch and instead helps clients deal with trauma through nature and creating.
So, what’s next?
Our team continues to explore ways to build on this pilot program.
We believe that stories about arts, culture, and creativity aren’t just nice to have—they’re essential. They help people make sense of the places they live in, feel pride in their communities, and see each other in a fuller light. We’re eager to keep going.
