Order this year’s CSA from Springboard for the Arts, and you won’t get squash or cucumbers. You’ll get monthly deliveries of unique local art.

At the St. Paul artist resource organization, CSA stands for community-supported art. It’s an intentional nod to a better-known version of CSA — community-supported agriculture — through which people can support local farms for a whole growing season by pre-purchasing a subscription to receive regular fresh produce.

Each art CSA share includes three boxes — one in each month of February, March and April 2023 — that collectively contain work by nearly a dozen Minnesota artists, said Wone Vang, the organization’s economic opportunity director, who’s coordinating the program.

February’s box is print-focused, put together by Bruno Press, Bench Pressed, and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The March box is curated by Creative Handmade Goods, a retail shop in Fergus Falls, where Springboard has an outpost; artists with work in the box include potter Michael Burgraff, painter Rachel Venberg, and one more to be announced.

The final box, in April, features participants in Springboard’s Ready Made program, which supports artists and makers around the state creating unique crafts, jewelry, textiles, and more. Contributors include ceramicist Emily Bahnson of Wondrous Crane, Lilly Rogers of Tiny Art by LRG — who will be creating DIY watercolor kits — and two additional artists still being finalized.

Each item is created specifically for the CSA boxes, and only 50 editions of each artwork are produced. So the CSA could soon sell out, Vang said, since more than half the 50 shares had already been claimed as of Dec. 14.

Shares run $350 apiece, which Vang said is actually a good deal given the prices you might otherwise pay for each individual artwork on its own. The CSA can be purchased online.

Like its namesake acronym, Springboard’s CSA program aims to provide more stable support for Twin Cities and greater Minnesota artists: To let artists make art, instead of getting bogged down by financial anxiety. This is especially important in the post-holiday season, which tends to be a bit slower for local art, Vang said.

“This program allows us to be able to help them create their art and give them the time to do that,” Vang said, while also telling artists, “hey, you’re able to have this way to fund yourself, and we’re going to help you spread .”

Springboard for the Arts has been organizing versions of the CSA program for many years, though for the past couple seasons, the organization nixed the in-person elements. Now, boxes are mailed to recipients, which also means folks out-of-state can participate, Vang said. Springboard also created a toolkit to help other arts resource organizations start their own community-support art programs. So far, more than 60 organizations nationwide are using Springboard’s model.

Vang, who herself is an artist — she and her sister comprise the cross-stich collaborative Third Daughter, Restless Daughter — joined Springboard’s staff a few months ago and is focusing on bolstering the organization’s economic initiatives. A major recent project, she said, is the guaranteed income for artists program, which provides $500 per month to cohorts of 25 artists, in 18-month increments. Springboard also provides resources like technology and access to financial consultants and lawyers for artists.

“When you look around in our community, everywhere you go, you see art,” Vang said. “When people are able to put art up, it just feels like the community is coming together.”