The Loft Inc

“THE ORGANIZATION AMENDED THE BYLAWS. The change was to contracting authority, providing for more clarity on who has the authority to sign contracts on behalf of the Loft and what thresholds or criteria require a review by the finance committee.”

“An initial draft of the 990 is reviewed in detail by the finance committee of the board. After changes or corrections, if needed, the near final draft of the 990 is distributed to full board in pre-read material prior to the first board meeting of the calendar year. The treasurer/finance committee chair reviews the document for the board with assistance of representatives from the independent auditors, if needed. Board members are invited to ask questions and submit any further corrections. The Treasurer recommends approval of the 990 (with changes, as needed) and a full vote of the board is called. The board must approve the 990 before it is submitted.”

“Each year, typically at the first meeting of the fiscal year as a 'standing agenda item,' all board members are asked to review the conflict of interest policy for the purpose of stating and/or updating their disclosures, and to sign and date the form.”

“Relying in substantial part on the bi-annual survey of non-profit salaries conducted and published by the minnesota council of non-profits, the board of director's executive committee establishes the salary for the executive director, within the limits established by the board of directors in approving the organization's budget. The executive director in turn, uses the same procedure for establishing salaries for all other staff, including the managing director.”

“The organization makes its financial statements and 990 available to the public on its website. The governing documents and conflict of interest policy are held at the organization's offices and are available upon request.”

“The loft advances the artistic development of writers, fosters a thriving literary community, and inspires a passion for literature. As an intergenerational, multicultural literary arts center, the loft operates as an artist service organization, a gathering place for readers and writers, a community school for the arts, and a presenting organization. Each year the loft nurtures hundreds of novelists, poets, spoken word artists, and writers in every genre and style, and connects readers and live audiences in the twin cities and across minnesota with contemporary literature, reaching over 750,000 people annually.”

“The Loft launched Wordplay, a new annual literary festival to celebrate literature with readers and writers of all genres and interests. In addition, the Mirrors and Windows Fellowship was added to services for writers as a means to encourage writers of color and indigenous writers to develop books for children and young adults.”

“THE LOFT COMBINED ITS PROGRAMS DIFFERENTLY THAN IN THE PAST. PREVIOUSLY, AWARD PROGRAMS WERE GROUPED WITH EVENTS. NOW, AWARD PROGRAMS ARE BEING INCLUDED WITH SERVICES FOR WRITERS AS THAT IS ACTUALLY A MORE INTUITIVE COMBINATION. THE ORGANIZATION discontinued the spoken word community immersion fellowships this year due to changes in funding.”

“Services for Writers and the Literary Community In fiscal year 2019, the Organization provided a wide range of services designed to support writers and the broader literary community. Loft.org, the Organizations website, provided regular articles and fostered discussions about the writers life and craft through its daily blog, The Writers Block. There, writers found writing exercises, literary reviews, commentary, news, and discussion. The site also included interviews, a calendar of readings and events, an online catalog of classes, and resources including information about writing groups, competitions, grants, awards, publishers, and agents. Visitors perused current and back issues of literary magazines as well as books published by Minnesota presses, books by regional writers including the Organizations instructors, members and students, and writers' reference books from The Rachel Anne Gaschott Ritchie Small Press Library. Sixty-one writers made use of the Organizations writers studios, four Organization-sponsored culturally distinct writing groups met regularly at Open Book and 27 literary groups used the Book Club Room this year. The Loft also co-sponsored regular meetings of the Picture Book Salon. In addition, the Organization provided several competitive opportunities that assisted writers in advancing their artistic and professional development: The Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose offered twelve emerging Minnesota writers opportunity to work intensively with six nationally acclaimed writers in prose and poetry. Four writers in each genre were selected for the program by the mentors. Mentors and mentees spend time working in groups and one-on-one and mentees receive a $1,000 grant. Students and mentors present their work in public readings throughout the year. McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers provided five Minnesota writers of demonstrated ability with grants of $25,000, buying them time to concentrate on their craft. The writers were competitively selected for awards in creative prose and children's literature. The Mirrors and Windows Fellowship gave twelve emerging artists of color and indigenous artists coaching, encouragement, and connections to help them write books for children and young adults. The program aims to address the critical issue of underrepresentation in the childrens and young adult literary ecosystem. They also received a grant of $500 each.”

“Learning for Writers and Readers - The Organization offered a variety of learning opportunities for writers and readers during fiscal year 2019. Classes during fiscal year 2019 took place at Open Book, at libraries and community sites throughout the greater Twin Cities area and online. Adults and youth (ages 6-90+) at all levels of artistic development furthered their skills in classes focused on fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screen/playwriting, childrens literature, graphic novel, and other literary forms; learned more about developing a writing practice and career; and explored literature as readers. All classes were taught by accomplished writers and literary professionals. In addition to classes, the Loft brought writers into seven schools and worked with community organizations ranging from Gildas Club to the Citizens League, Wounded Warriors to Walker Art Center, to explore creative writing as a way to effectively share and process an experience. This year, the Organization served 3,080 adults and 1,802 youth in 380 classes and workshops, schools and community programs. In addition, Poetry Out Loud a recitation competition, offered 1,628 students from 22 Minnesota schools the opportunity to participate in literary learning opportunities and advance to a national competition. To mitigate financial barriers to participation in creative writing classes, the Organization provided 457 low income discounts, 49 additional subsidies to students from traditionally underrepresented communities and 127 scholarships, plus a work-study program, and 49 free writing classes in partnership with eight regional library systems across the greater Twin Cities.”

“Events for Readers - Authors book launch readings and spoken word performances helped develop audiences for literature while promoting and advancing the work of individual writers. Big Ideas discussions featured writers and thought leaders using literature to spur conversations on topical issues and curated literary events engaged audience members in exploration of thought-provoking themes. Twenty eight of these events featuring 115 writers for a combined audience of 1,800 took place throughout the year at the Target Performance Hall, Open Book. In May of 2019, the Loft presented the inaugural Wordplay literary festival. Bringing together 10,000 people in a full weekend of events, Wordplay uniquely addressed the organizations mission to foster a thriving literary community and inspire passion for literature. With 200+ authors on seven stages, the festival welcomed not only devoted readers, but also people who dont think of themselves that way, but who were drawn by a specific topic or presenter and stayed for more. People who came to see Stephen King, Mitch Albom, or Amy Tan took the opportunity to discover authors theyd previously never read. With this new, now annual, festival The Loft is putting literature at the center of civic life, engaging participants in important, timely, and challenging conversations inspired by books while also celebrating the joy, empathy-building, and transformative power of reading and writing.”