The Artistic Innovations grant program supports the creation of new or original works of art of all disciplines by exclusively engaging in-region individual artists and art-based organizations in M-AAA’s six-state region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, or Texas). See Applicant Eligibility Requirements for more information.

Through the generous support of the NEA, this grant program offers up to $15,000 in support of expenses incurred in the art-making process and public presentation to the applicant’s audience. This grant requires a dollar-for-dollar (1:1) match. M-AAA’s matching requirements encourage applicants to request an amount of up to $15,000 that is reflective of their project and capacity to manage their grants. Federal funding sources from the NEA, or another Federal agency (e.g., grants, subsidies) cannot be used to meet our 1:1 match requirement for the same project in a single application cycle or an overlapping grant period of activity. See Project Eligibility Requirements for more information.

The works of art should advance and incorporate principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the representation, participation, and creation of the artwork to the applicant’s audience. All projects must include at least two (2) public-facing engagements that occur in M-AAA’s six-state region: 

1. a premiere or feature presentation; and
2. an educational or outreach activity.

Eligible applications will be adjudicated for artistic merit and artistic excellence by discipline-specific advisory panels. See Review Criteria for more information.

M-AAA awards will be made to at least two (2) grant recipients per state across the six-state region. This program will disburse 1:1 matching grants of up to $15,000 to no less than 12 grantees. See Grant Awards and Requirements for more information.

Read about M-AAA’s FY2024 Artistic Innovations Grant Recipients and their projects at: www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/artistic-innovations/fy2024-grant-recipients/. 

To support applicants in their preparation process of applying, they can download a copy of the FY25 Guidelines and preview the application form in the FY25 Application At-A-Glance  document and the recommended Work Sample Template and Budget Template. 

This grant program is made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance “CFDA” #45.025 Promotion of the Arts Partnership Agreements). The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and fostering mutual respect for the diverse beliefs and values of all individuals and groups, including:

• African American serving institutions;
• American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes;
• Asian American and Pacific Islander communities;
• Hispanic serving institutions;
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities;
• Organizations that support a disability-inclusive culture; and
• Tribal Colleges and Universities

As part of its annual grant program, M-AAA intends to make awards that encourage the spirit of experimentation and exploration and benefit a broad constituency. We encourage applications from a variety of eligible applicants including:

• Artists and arts-based organizations* that embody and/or serve underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by external forces including geography, race/ethnicity, economics, and/or disability **,
• Artists and arts-based organizations located in rural and urban communities, and
• Artists and arts-based organizations applying for the first time to M-AAA.

*Arts-based organizations include arts and culture as a primary and major focus of a broader mission.

**M-AAA abides by state and federal laws that prohibit public support to organizations (people or entities) that discriminate against people with disabilities. All of our partners and grantees—that includes exhibition venues, grant recipients, and presenting organizations—are required to assure that they are in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). 

Note: An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

Read M-AAA’s Work in DEIA at: www.maaa.org/about/mission/addressing-equity, and the NEA’s current regulations and resources at: www.arts.gov/impact/accessibility.

Be advised, that if an applicant received this award or is a featured artist/ensemble in another Artistic Innovations project between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, they are not eligible to apply. 

Individual Artist Applicants must:

1. 1. Not be an Artistic Innovations grant recipient or the featured artist/ensemble in another Artistic Innovations project in fiscal year 2024 (projects occurred between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024).
      Note: Individual artists cannot be the recipient of two or more grants of more than $1,000 each through any of M-AAA’s individual artist grants in any single fiscal year. 
   2. Not submit more than one application in a single application cycle.
   3. Be at least 21 years of age on or before the application deadline.
   4. Be a citizen, permanent resident, or have non-resident status.
      Note: Social Security Number information is not required at the time of application.
   5. Have an artist statement and/or résumé that demonstrates at least a 3-year history of arts engagement in a creative practice prior to the application deadline. Examples of your creative practice do not have to be from consecutive years or seasons. We know that most applicants were disrupted by the pandemic. As a result, it is acceptable to list activities from a recent year other than 2023 or 2022. Virtual programming, planning, and COVID-19 recovery activities are all considered to be arts programming.
      For the purposes of defining eligibility, a 3-year history of arts engagement refers to when the applicant began their creative practice independent of activities required in pursuit of an academic degree or other certification.
   6. Apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal sponsor/agent are not allowed.
   7. Be a full-time resident in M-AAA’s six-state region prior to the application deadline and during the entire grant period of activity, if awarded. 
   8. Compensate all professional artists or supporting professional personnel at no less than the prevailing minimum compensation in accordance with the CFR Part 505 of Title 29 Labor Standards on projects or productions assisted by grants from the NEA. Part 505 does not provide information on specific compensation levels. For more information visit: www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=pt29.3.505&rgn=div5, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s State Minimum Wage Laws, www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state.
   9. Be in good standing with M-AAA and all federal agencies with no delinquent grant documents and/or reports, if awarded.

Organizational Applicants must:

1. Not be an Artistic Innovations grant recipient or the featured artist/ensemble in another Artistic Innovations project in fiscal year 2024 (projects occurred between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024).
   Note: organizations are limited to an aggregate award amount of $15,000 through M-AAA’s recurring grant programs in any single fiscal year.
2. Not submit more than one application in a single application cycle.
3. Be an arts-based nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)3, U.S. organization, a local state agency (a unit of a local government), a federally or non-federally recognized tribal community or tribe that are also a nonprofit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) located within M-AAA’s six-state region.
4. Be an arts-based nonprofit organization that has its own Board of Directors with its own established bylaws, and manages its budget independent of a parent organization.
5. Be incorporated in and currently conducting business in one or more states in M-AAA’s six-state region prior to the application deadline and during the entire grant period of activity, if awarded.
6. Have completed at least a 3-year history of arts engagement prior to the application deadline. Examples of your organization’s arts programming do not have to be from consecutive years or seasons. We know that most applicants were disrupted by the pandemic. As a result, it is acceptable to list activities from a recent year other than 2023 or 2022. Virtual programming, planning, and COVID-19 recovery activities are all considered to be arts programming.
   For the purpose of defining eligibility, a 3-year history of arts engagement refers to when an organization began its arts programming and not when it incorporated or received nonprofit, tax-exempt status. 
7. Have arts and culture explicitly stated as central to the organization’s mission. An arts-based organization that includes arts and culture as a primary and major focus of a larger mission may apply if their larger mission is centered in serving a specific cultural group.
8. Compensate all professional artists or supporting professional personnel at no less than the prevailing minimum compensation in accordance with the CFR Part 505 of Title 29 Labor Standards on projects or productions assisted by grants from the NEA. Part 505 does not provide information on specific compensation levels. For more information visit: www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=pt29.3.505&rgn=div5, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s State Minimum Wage Laws, www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state. 
9. Apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal sponsor/agent are not allowed.
10. Have and provide a valid 9-digit Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) as a Tax-Exempt Organization registered with the IRS at: www.irs.gov/charities-and-nonprofits.
    Note: Organizations that have had their IRS status revoked are not eligible to apply for a grant. Tax-exempt status must be current at the time of application.
11. Have and provide a valid 12-character alphanumeric Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) as assigned (or proof of registration) in the System for Award Management (SAM) at: https://sam.gov/content/home. Organizations are required to have a valid UEI ID but not an entity registration to do business with M-AAA.
    Note: The physical address must match the UEI registered in SAM.gov.
12. Be in good standing with M-AAA and all federal agencies with no delinquent grant documents and/or reports, if awarded.

Those not eligible to apply include:

• Current M-AAA board members, staff members, and immediate families of full-time employees;
• Fiscal sponsors/agents on behalf of an applicant (an organization must apply directly on its own behalf and cannot act as a pass-through entity);
• For-profit entities;
• Organizations whose primary focus and mission is not arts-based programming;
• Organizations that have had their IRS status revoked;
• Public television and other public media companies; and 
• State arts agencies.

For questions regarding an entity that is not listed above, email us at: innovations@maaa.org.

A great Artistic Innovations project is a work that has in-person experiences of art, art-making of all disciplines, or artists at the heart of the endeavor and introduces a new original idea or artwork at any point in its creative development to the applicant’s audience by artists and arts-based nonprofit organizations in M-AAA’s six-state region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, or Texas).

M-AAA recognizes that in-person public-facing engagements might not be possible given public health safety issues, but for the purposes of the application process we require applicants to plan for and describe the best-case scenario in which in-person experiences can take place during the grant period of activities.

Eligible projects must:

1. Be new or original artwork at any point in its creative development. Artwork may span one or more creative disciplines including, but not limited to: 
   • Crafts (Clay, Fiber, Glass, Leather, Metal, Mixed Media, Paper, Plastic, Wood)
   • Dance/movement (Ballet, Ethnic/Jazz, Tribal, Modern)
   • Design Arts (Architecture, Fashion, Graphic, Industrial, Interior, Landscape Architecture, Urban/Metropolitan)
   • Folklife/Traditional Arts (Crafts & Visual Arts, Dance, Music, Oral Traditions/Spoken word, Stand-up comedy/Storytelling)
   • Humanities (Facilitated conversations, Compilation of historical documentation, Preservation of history)
   • Interdisciplinary (a combination of two or more creative disciplines)
   • Literature (Fiction, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Playwriting, Poetry)
   • Media Arts (Film, Audio, Technology/Experiments, Podcasts, Video)
   • Multidisciplinary (composed of several creative disciplines)
   • Music (Band, Chamber, Choral, Ethnic, Jazz, New, Orchestral, Popular, Solo/Recital, Song Writing)
   • Opera/Music Theatre (Opera, Musical Theater)
   • Photography
   • Theater (General, Mime, Puppet, Theater for Young Audiences, Storytelling)
   • Visual Arts (Collage, Experimental, Graphics, Multimedia, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture)
   • This list is not comprehensive. For questions regarding a specific art discipline that is not listed above, email us at: innovations@maaa.org.
2. Not have more than one application submitted for the same project in a single application cycle.
   • Must include at least 2 public-facing engagements that occur in M-AAA’s six-state region between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. 
   • Exclusively draw upon the talent of artists/partners based in the M-AAA region at the time of application and throughout the grant period of activity. 
   • Have a grant request of no more than $15,000. Applicants are encouraged to request an amount that is reflective of the project and their capacity to manage the grant; and
   • Provide a detailed budget that reflects a dollar-for-dollar match for the grant amount requested. 
     • All funding, procured or pending should be included in the project budget.
       • Applicants may meet the 1:1 match requirement through a combination of cash reserves, donations and/or in-kind contributions.
       • M-AAA does not require evidence of a 1:1 match at the time of application.
     • Federal and other M-AAA grant funding procured or pending for the project must be included in the budget. Costs associated with other federal funds, whether direct or indirect, cannot be included in the Project Budget. 
     • Grant funds may be used for expenses incurred starting on or after July 1, 2024, and must be totally expended on or by June 30, 2025.
     • M-AAA grant funds must be used exclusively for direct project expenses incurred in the art-making process and production of public-facing engagements. Allowed expense costs include, but are not limited to:
       • artists/personnel fees
       • commissioning fees 
       • production or exhibition materials 
       • promotion and audience development 
       • rehearsal or studio expenses

Projects not eligible include:

• activities that engage artists who reside outside the M-AAA region
• activities that engage solely through online streaming content
• acquisitions
• adaptations from one medium to another
• any application submitted more than once in a single application cycle
• art competitions, festivals, or fairs
• awards or fellowships
• conservation, repair, or restoration
• facility construction, maintenance, or renovation
• fundraisers, or scholarships
• institution/organization establishment, or support
• regranting, or subgranting
• remounting of past work in a new venue
• rereleases of previously published or recorded material
• stabilization/endowment/challenge
• student participation assessments
• traditional restaging of classic productions

M-AAA staff will review each application to determine completeness and if it meets our eligibility requirements. Ineligible applicants will be notified with an opportunity to obtain staff review comments to help with future submissions by no later than June 2024. See Program Timeline. 

Applications deemed eligible for project selection will be adjudicated by a panel of arts professionals based on “Artistic Merit through Stewardship of Funding” and “Artistic Excellence through the Artwork.”

Artistic Merit through Stewardship of Funding:

• Project Design and Budget: The application demonstrates a realistic timeline, an appropriate budget, clear artistic-based objectives, and adequate risk management considerations.
• Project Management: The application indicates the ability of the applicant to implement the project as demonstrated by the qualifications of those involved, including but not limited to appropriate paid personnel, volunteers, and partners, and shows a proactive plan for audience development. 
• Project Equity and Accessibility: The application reflects fair practices for the applicant’s audience to access resources and an inclusive approach in the representation, participation, and creation of the artwork. The application shows evidence of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) principles that funded project services, information, and facilities where activities are to take place will be accessible for everyone. 

Artistic Excellence through the Artwork:

• Project Leadership: The application indicates that the applicant and any partners involved in the project design and execution demonstrate skills, expertise, and experiences that are central to the project as evidenced in the work samples. 
• Project Impact: The application reflects how the project fits into the scope and mission of the applicant’s body of work and demonstrates the project’s reach and/or depth of engagement to a broad constituency, including geographic and demographic characteristics, and accessibility through its execution and evaluation. 
• Overall Grant Program and Project Alignment: The application demonstrates how the project aligns with the grant program’s objectives to support the creation of original, innovative, and/or experimental artwork, incorporating principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) through at least 2 public-facing engagements in the six-state region.

M-AAA relies upon regional arts leaders in the field to serve as panel reviewers for the Artistic Innovations grant program. To best serve the arts ecosystem across our six-state region, we aim to have a balanced panel of reviewers to ensure an equitable representation of artistic disciplines, organizational expertise, as well as a representation of the populations in M-AAA’s six-state region. Panels are composed of both arts professionals and knowledgeable laypersons. Most panelists are arts professionals qualified by their activities, training, skills, and/or experience in one or more art forms.

Panels will evaluate each eligible application using the following 6-point ranking scale for each Review Criteria listed above.

6 – Exemplary: Fully achieves the stated criteria. Meets all of the review criteria requirements to the HIGHEST degree.

5 – Strong: Strongly achieves the stated criteria. Meets all of the review criteria requirements to a SIGNIFICANT degree.

4 – Good: Sufficiently achieves the stated criteria. Meets all of the review criteria requirements to SOME degree.

3 – Fair: Moderately achieves the stated criteria. Meets MOST of the review requirements.

2 – Marginal: Minimally achieves the stated criteria. Meets SOME of the review requirements.

1 – Weak: Does not achieve the stated criteria. Inadequately meets the review requirements.

The Artistic Innovations grant program is made possible through the generous support of the NEA. M-AAA will disburse awards of up to $15,000 to no less than 12 grantees to support the creation and public presentation of new or original artwork in M-AAA’s six-state region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, or Texas).

Funded projects must adhere to the Uniform Administrative Requirements for Federal Awards in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200 and NEA’s General Terms and Conditions. If selected, the applicant will enter into a grant agreement with M-AAA. The agreement will outline the terms and conditions and federal regulations to ensure compliance with our grant requirements.

Grant recipients are expected to acknowledge M-AAA’s Assurance of Compliance and Crediting Requirements, as well as comply with other administrative requirements prior to funding distribution. Funding will be distributed through two partial payments: 

1. 50% upon execution of the grant agreement, W-9 Form and successful review of the Interim Report due by August 31, 2024. 
2. 50% upon successful review of the Final Report due by July 31, 2025. 

To assist grantees in managing their grants, M-AAA offers information and resources at: www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/artistic-innovations and www.maaa.org/resources/for-grantees.

• Application opens on January 11, 2024.
• Application deadline is February 23, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. CST. 
• Office hours for applicants will be held on Tuesdays on Zoom between January 30 and February 20, 2024.
• Eligibility reviews by M-AAA staff underway in March 2024.
• Panel adjudications underway in April 2024.
• Applicants will be notified of their status the week of June 17, 2024.
• Awarded projects will be publicly announced on M-AAA’s website in July 2024.
• M-AAA grant agreements, funding distributions and other grantee requirements will take place in July-August 2024.
• Grant period of funded activities underway, July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025.
• Final reports due by July 31, 2025.

The Artistic Innovations grant accepts applications via an online form platform. The latest version of Google Chrome is the recommended web browser to use when working in the online application form. To maximize the functionality of the online form platform, try clearing your browsing data, cookies, and search history in Google Chrome. 

We encourage applicants to refer to the Grant Guidelines and use the Application At-A-Glance document as well as the recommended Work Sample Template and Budget Template to support you with preparing answers in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or similar note taking applications to ensure you have a backup for reference. While draft application forms can be saved online, technology is not flawlessly reliable. Unfortunately, our platform does not support file types saved in Mac Pages or Numbers. 

We strongly recommend applicants prepare their narrative responses before working in the application form. All supporting materials must be in Microsoft Word, Excel, PDF or Google Docs format.

Applicants will not have an opportunity to resubmit missing information.

See Document Checklist in the Application At-A Glance document to ensure you have all required documents and any optional materials ready for upload to your application form.

Draft application forms can be saved for editing later by clicking “Save my progress and resume later” at the top (or bottom) of the application form webpage form. Each time you save your application you will be asked for an email address and a password. An email with new instructions on how to resume the most recent draft of your form will be sent each time it is saved in the platform. To resume a saved draft of your application form, refer to the most recent email in your inbox (or bookmark the “Thank you for saving/resume your application” webpage). 

Applicants experiencing trouble logging into their application form or unable to save and upload files to the platform, email us at: innovations@maaa.org.

The submission window for the Artistic Innovations grant closed on February 23, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. CST Applicants will be notified of their status the week of June 10, 2024. The guidelines are for reference only.

If you would like to learn about additional programs from Mid-America Arts Alliance, please explore maaa.org or subscribe to our e-newsletter and Pushing the Flywheel for additional opportunities.

We urge you to submit your application early to ensure your materials are properly received. The application platform may experience slower processing times when user traffic is higher as the deadline nears. Applicants will not have an opportunity to resubmit missing information.

LATE SUBMISSIONS & REQUEST FOR EXTENSIONS 

Extension requests must be received 5 days before the application deadline. An extension gives you extra time to finish your application.

Applicants must complete and submit an Extension Request Form before the application deadline with justification for an extension. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis; approval is not guaranteed.

• The Extension Request Form can be found here: www.tfaforms.com/5097231

ALTERNATIVE FORMATS 

These materials are available in alternative accessible formats upon request. If you have accessibility needs for an alternate format or process for completing the application, contact M-AAA’s Accessibility Coordinator: 

Angelette Sevart
Email: angelette@maaa.org
Telephone: (816) 421-1388 ext. #216

All applicants must upload the required documents and any optional materials in support of the proposed project. Applicants will not have an opportunity to resubmit missing information.

All documents should be in PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel and/or Google Docs format. 

Required documents:

• Project Timeline (#23)
• Summary from organizational partners (#32)
• Résumé, and/or summary document from lead artist (#33)
• Work Sample List (#35) see recommended work sample template
• Detailed Project Budget (#59) see recommended budget template

Optional documents:

• Letters of support from organizational partners (#32)
• Letters of support from lead artist (#33)
• Summary and/or letters of support from other key individuals or partners (#34)
• Additional supporting materials (#36)

Do you have questions? We are here to help.

Be sure to download and review the FY25 Artistic Innovations Grant Guidelines, refer to the Application At-A-Glance, and consider the Work Sample Template, and the Budget Template. Then email staff at innovations@maaa.org.

Join M-AAA staff for Drop-in Zoom Office Hours on Tuesdays between January 30, 2024 through February 20, 2024 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. CST. Register for Office Hours here. This is an open meeting so others interested in the grant program may join at any time. Applicants should feel free to come and go from the Zoom room as it benefits them.

Mid-America Arts Alliance, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, offers multiple funding opportunities, including the Artistic Innovations Grant Program which requires adjudication by a panel of arts professionals.

Mid-America Arts Alliance relies upon arts leaders in the field to serve as reviewers for the Artistic Innovations program. Review of application materials followed by a reviewer meeting typically takes place in April. The meeting is held in a web-based format (via phone and computer). Reviewers are not expected to travel; however, each reviewer must be able to commit to independent review of applications in advance of the meeting which may take as many as 5-hours. Reviewers must have a computer capable of browsing and online meetings as well as reliable internet access.

A stipend is included.

Submitted interest forms will be held for consideration for two years. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Christine Bial, Director of Grant Programs at christine@maaa.org.

Submit your interest by filling out the inquiry form.

For awarded grantees, please view our grantee crediting requirements webpage, which includes logos and crediting information.

For more information, visit our for grantees webpage.