Artistic Innovations Grant / LOI Due November 13

The Artistic Innovations Grant Program encourages the spirit of experimentation and exploration, exclusively engaging in-region artists in the creation of new, original works for audiences in the M-AAA region. This grant program offers up to $15,000 in support of expenses incurred in the art-making process and premiere of these endeavors. Through generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, M-AAA invites individual artists and arts-based nonprofit 501c3 organizations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas to submit a Letter of Intent Form for a project that meets the eligibility requirements listed below. Letters of Intent will be due on November 13, 2020.

A great Artistic Innovations project is one that has in-person experiences of art, art making, or artists at the heart of the initiative and introduces a new or original idea or product to the applicant’s audience. Engagement through feature presentation and outreach includes but is not limited to performance, publication, lecture/demonstration, exhibition, master class and/or workshop.

Artistic Innovations grants support the creation of new, original works that result in at least two accessible, public-facing events, including a premiere feature presentation and an outreach event.

Projects meet three criteria:

1. The project is new and original culminating in two public-facing events including at least one outreach activity and at least one premiere feature presentation in accessible venues in the M-AAA region between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022;
2. All applicants and artists involved in the project’s public-facing events are residents of the six-state M-AAA region at the time of application and throughout the grant period; and
3. The anticipated project budget reflects a 1:1 match for the grant amount requested. The maximum grant request allowed is $15,000.

Artistic Innovations Eligibility

Individuals must:

• Not be an Artistic Innovations grant recipient in the previous fiscal year OR involved with an awarded project;
• Be at least 21 years of age;
• Have a social security number;
• Have a résumé that demonstrates at least three consecutive years of engagement in a creative practice;
• Have lived in the M-AAA region full-time for at least three years prior to the Letter of Intent deadline and remain a regional resident during the entire grant period; and
• Be in good standing with M-AAA and all other federal agencies, with no delinquent reports and/or grant documents.

Organizations must:

• Not be an Artistic Innovations grant recipient in the previous fiscal year OR involved with an awarded project;
• Be a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, a unit of state or local government, or a federally recognized tribal community;
• Be registered in the Data Universal Number System (DUNS);
• Have three consecutive years of operating history prior to the Letter of Intent Form deadline;
• Be incorporated and located in the M-AAA region; and
• Be in good standing with M-AAA and all other federal agencies, with no delinquent reports and/or grant documents.

If you have questions or need additional information, please email us at innovations (at) maaa.org.

Projects must not be:

• Those that engage audiences solely through online streaming
• Adaptations from one medium to another
• Remounting of past work in a new venue
• Traditional restaging of classic productions
• Rereleases of previously published or recorded material
• Art festivals or fairs
• Art competitions or fundraisers
• Projects engaging any artists from outside M-AAA’s six-state region

Individual artist GRANT GUIDELINES and GRANT APPLICATIONS

Organizational GRANT GUIDELINES and GRANT APPLICATION