The City of St. Paul enacted the People’s Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot Program (PPP) in 2020 to help families that were already financially strained when COVID-19 hit. The PPP program provides guaranteed financial support for 18 months to 150 families who fit a specific set of criteria.
From the City of St Paul’s website:
The City of Saint Paul is launching the People’s Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot, which will provide up to 150 Saint Paul families with $500 per month in guaranteed income for a period of up to 18 months. The People’s Prosperity Pilot is being offered to families participating in CollegeBound Saint Paul, the City’s college savings imitative which is providing every child born to a Saint Paul resident on or after January 1, 2020 with a college savings account and a $50 seed deposit. In addition to the $500 families will receive each month through the Pilot, their child will receive a $10 bonus deposit in their CollegeBound Saint Paul account.
The basic premise of the program is to provide struggling families with no strings attached financial aid. The hope is that St. Paul’s Pilot Program can aid the National conversation about guaranteed income programs and expand our view of what aid can look like.
Altitude is inspired by the dreams of laughing children. Created by The Milligan Studio and commissioned by Springboard for the Arts for the City of St. Paul’s Mayor’s Office in celebration of PPP, Altitude’s central image is a tightrope walker’s parasol, as the monthly PPP stipend gave many families a chance to experience life lived with a safety net.
“When considering the People’s Prosperity Pilot,” Dr. Milligan said of the Studio’s process, “We asked ourselves—what would society look like if we had a basic income that provided Altitude for all—what if we were all each other’s safety nets? Like tightrope walkers, would our children dream the impossible and make it happen? We hope so. And so Altitude celebrates the dreams, and laughter, of children.”
Further Reading:
- St. Paul guaranteed income helps families of color (Star Tribune)
- People’s Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot (City of Saint Paul)
YWCA St. Paul will display Altitude, an interactive art piece by The Milligan Studio, celebrating the City of St. Paul’s People Prosperity Pilot. This piece will be unveiled to the public on December 7 at YWCA St. Paul.
Artists Respond: People, Place, and Prosperity is a project of the City of Saint Paul and Springboard for the Arts, supported by Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and The Kresge Foundation. See more: https://springboardforthearts.org/artists-respond-people-place-and-prosperity/
Dr. Nicole Mary Milligan (www.themilliganstudio.com) is a fiscal year 2021 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.