Minnesota Media Arts

Thanks for your interest in supporting MN Media Arts. 

Our cultural memories are at RISK because they were recorded on video & audio tape that can disintegrate, can not be played back, and may be lost forever. NOW they can be saved and digitally restored. Our professional team guides artists and organizations through a “collection rescue process” that helps capture your content and context to better preserve your cultural memories. This will make your stories more relatable and accessible online for today’s audiences. The recent changing political landscape makes cultural preservation more important than ever. 

Minnesota Media Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Our mission is to preserve our cultural memory, by cataloging and digitizing archive collections, and providing improved digital access to Minnesota’s media arts programs, documentaries and independent productions. We continue to work with Minnesota's creative communities, both individuals and organizations, to better manage and stabilize their video, film and audio collections that preserve our rich and expressive Minnesota cultural heritage. 

Thanks to your contributions and continued support!

Minnesota Media Arts advocates three components of Media Preservation. 

Secure and stabilize the media collection through consistent temperature and low humidity storage, complete a visual inventory for asset identification and re-boxing for better organization. 

Choose the appropriate (professional or DIY) media conversion resource. MN Media Arts provides archival quality collection care management, media preservation and digital conversion services for the arts and cultural heritage communities. Our Twin Cities media preservation labs support our Collection Care and Digitization projects. 

Determine how best to make your new media files accessible to your audiences, by selecting the best platform, hosting facility or streaming service.  Your support will help us to build out our MN Media Arts “digital archive repository”, presenting our media catalog of legacy digital media programs and increasing access via online media channels. 

Help us improve our operational capabilities.

We’ve been working in remote offices since the Pandemic. Our 2025 funding goal is to secure an affordable space for our offices, production studios, centralize our preservation labs and improve media collection storage capabilities. We also want to foster and improve our engagement opportunities with both our members and target audiences through events such as AV media preservation seminars and community media archiving workshops.