Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies Publishes Impact Report of Its Folk Arts & Cultures Program

Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) launched its Folk Arts & Cultures (FAC) grantmaking program in 2016. Since that time, MACP has partnered with seventeen organizations in two U.S. regions: the Upper Midwest (with a specific focus on Nordic-American folk arts and cultures) and Central Appalachia. Their work has focused on advancing the intergenerational transmission of artistic skill and cultural knowledge, and on the shared aim with MACP that folk arts and cultures will be more deeply understood, more broadly recognized, and more widely practiced.

In 2024, MACP’s FAC program together with evaluation colleagues Wilder Research completed work to summarize nearly eight years of grantee work in an impact report. The report speaks to the many positive effects that ripple out when people and communities practice folk and traditional arts. Three primary themes emerged from the report, and they demonstrate how through MACP funding, the work of FAC partners:

1. Honors, sustains and grows traditions,
2. Creates, connects, and sustains community, and
3. Embodies and fosters belonging and justice.