Artistic Innovations

As part of its annual Artistic Innovations grant program, Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) recently awarded 13 grants totaling $184,000. These awards grant up to $15,000 for the creation of artworks and creative projects by artists and nonprofit organizations across M-AAA’s region of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The following grantees were peer reviewed by panels organized by artistic discipline. Read the announcement here.

Learn more about the 2024–2025 Artistic Innovations Grant Recipients and their projects, organized by discipline.

Dance projects, two grants totaling $29,000

Allison Orr Dance/Forklift Danceworks, Austin, TX
Grant: $15,000
Project: The Way of Water: El Paso

The Way of Water: El Paso is an artistic residency and community-based performance project for Forklift Danceworks with the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Department of Theatre and Dance and Center for Environmental Resource Management. Featuring the movement and stories of frontline water stewards and local community members, The Way of Water: El Paso will deepen understanding of local water issues, translating the science into understandable stories and using the magic of live performance as a catalyst for change. The premiere performance will be presented in March 2025 in partnership with UTEP’s World Water Week. 

Art Maker LLC, Pawhuska, OK
Grant: $14,000
Project: Coyote and the Ant

This innovative project presents the Osage fable, Coyote and the Ant, through modern symphonic music, Osage language narration, and expressive ballet. Art Maker, located in the heart of the Osage Nation Reservation, will produce the ballet and aims to empower and educate the community through dance and cultural exchange. Jenna LaViolette, an Osage Nation member and choreographer of the Osage Ballet, Wahzhazhe, will work with the Osage language department to produce this piece. Five Dance Maker Academy students will perform, with music composed by Osage composer Andrew Tinker. Costumes will be designed by Wendy Ponca, a renowned Osage artist and fashion designer. The premiere will be at the Constantine Theater in May 2025, with additional performances to come in schools and the community.

Film and Media Arts projects, two grants totaling $25,000

Arkansas Soul Media, Rogers, AR
Grant: $10,000
Project: Brush Strokes | Impact Campaign

Brush Strokes is a short documentary film that explores the healing power of art, focusing on a family’s journey after the father’s stroke. It highlights artist Lakisha Bradley, who delves into themes of generational bonding, rehabilitation, and cultural identity, particularly within the Black American community. The impact campaign includes a special art exhibition at Northwest and Central Arkansas art museums, community film screenings, educational resources for universities, art programs in nursing homes, an online learning platform, and partnerships with educational and health institutions. These efforts aim to support a larger documentary on transformative power of art.

Low Key Arts, Hot Springs National Park, AR
Grant: $15,000
Project: INCEPTION TO PROJECTION – PRODUCTION IN ACTION

INCEPTION TO PROJECTION – PRODUCTION IN ACTION offers hands-on training and mentorship for students aged 16 and older on a large-scale “teaching” film set, culminating in a 10-minute short film screened at the prestigious Persistence of Vision Film Festival in January 2025. Participants receive technical training in various film industry concentrations. Each concentration has a professional mentor guiding the students. This year-round program aims to increase diversity and representation in the film industry by providing comprehensive, world-class, and affordable or free filmmaking education to individuals who may lack access to traditional film schools, empowering diverse talent to pursue successful film careers.

Music projects, two grants totaling $30,000

Houston Grand Opera Association, Houston, TX
Grant: $15,000
Project: (To be titled) 

Houston Grand Opera has commissioned a 12-song cycle for two voices and piano by composer Joel Thompson and poet Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, based on interviews and oral histories from Houston’s historically Black communities. The project aims to elevate stories from Houston’s Third Ward. Drawing inspiration from Mouton’s spoken word performances, Thompson’s music, he says, will emulate the enthusiasm and unpredictability of the spoken word delivery style, which contrasts with the traditional art song repertoire. Events include public conversations with the artists, a public workshop of the work-in-progress, and the world premiere in June 2025 in the heart of Houston’s Black community.

InterUrban ArtHouse, Overland Park, KS
Grant: $15,000
Project: Identities Performance Series

The InterUrban ArtHouse Identities Performance Series will activate diverse Kansas City– metro performing artists across cultural backgrounds and performance types (including music, dance, theatre, spoken word, fashion, and circus) at the IUAH Performance Spaces. The project prioritizes artists and art forms from underrepresented communities, aiming to inspire community discourse around identity—what it means individually and collectively, how it is formed, and what happens when it is compromised. Through organizational partnerships, Identities will support artists in creating generative performative works that expand audiences. Performances may be collaborative, exploring cross-cultural connections while celebrating unique cultural perspectives and practices, emphasizing harmony in a discordant world. The goal is for each new performance to spark broad-reaching conversations about identity and its complexities.

Theatre projects, three grants totaling $40,000

Canterbury Voices, Oklahoma City, OK
Grant: $10,000
Project: LOKSI’ SHAALI’ Performance Costumes 2024

Canterbury Voices will present the world premiere of Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s LOKSI’ SHAALI’ (Shell Shaker), a groundbreaking opera project that aims to continue the artistic and cultural journey begun by MISHA’ SIPOKNI’. LOKSI’ SHAALI’ is a compelling choral and orchestral composition that continues the journey of the Chickasaw-Choctaw migration. The opera tells the story of Loksi’ (Turtle), a Chickasaw girl who embarks on a vision quest and returns to her people as a celebrated hero, bringing knowledge and turtle shells for music. This narrative highlights the significance of embracing one’s identity, honoring traditions, and treating others with kindness. The project aims to educate future generations, celebrate indigenous heritage, and promote cultural understanding in Oklahoma and beyond. The costuming, designed by Cherokee textile artist Jerica Hucke and completed by Lyric Theatre Artistic Director Michael Baron, is essential for the production. LOKSI’ SHAALI’, the first opera written by a Chickasaw composer, will premiere at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City. Canterbury Voices will present an immersive composer lecture series at First Americans Museum and universities in Oklahoma City ahead of the world premiere.

Circle Theatre, Omaha, NE
Grant: $15,000
Project: Capture the Moon

Circle Theatre will present Capture the Moon: A Yiddish Tale in late November 2024. Written by Ernest Joselovitz and Harry Michael Bagdasian, this full-length play has been adapted from the folk tale tradition of Jewish shtetl (village) culture and celebrates the rich and unique humor, language, stories, and perspective of a 500-year-old way of life that was destroyed during the Holocaust. In true Singer style, the stories will both entertain and educate, illustrating essential values of the Jewish experience. A collaborator, fluent in Yiddish and a scholar of shtetl life, will ensure the story is told with authenticity and respect, accurately representing Jewish culture and traditions. Circle Theatre, Omaha’s primary theater for people of all abilities, involves artists with disabilities working alongside youth community collaborators. Through visits to special education classrooms, members of the theatre will provide cultural dance workshops. Individuals from the classes will be invited to join the production as featured characters. The performances will take place at the new Alan J. Levine Theater on the Jewish Community Center campus in Omaha. 

What If Puppets, Kansas City, MO
Grant: $15,000
Project: Shiver Me Paintbrush

Shiver Me Paintbrush is a new touring production by What if Puppets, created specifically for young people with autism spectrum disorder or who are neurodivergent. The show and space are designed to be welcoming to neurodivergent audience members while still being entertaining and engaging for neurotypical viewers. The story follows a pirate and aspiring artist named Machè as she searches for her ship’s captain, Captain Colorful, who has flown away. The audience, acting as new recruits, joins her on this adventure of understanding, empathy, and personal empowerment. The production is designed to allow all young people to experience the show in the way that best suits their cognitive processing. What if Puppets tours the show to arts centers and libraries across the region.

Visual Art projects, four grants totaling $60,000

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
Grant: $15,000
Project: Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream…

Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream… is the artist’s first major museum survey, spanning over two decades of his work from early career drawings to current allegorical portraits. This exhibition cements Valdez as one of the most important American painters working today—imaging his country and its people, politics, pride, and foibles. Working across painting, video, drawing, sculpture, lithography, and multimedia installation, Valdez deftly addresses the failings and triumphs of contemporary American society with a reverential focus on collective memory and overlooked political histories. Just a Dream… opens November 15, 2025, and features previously unexhibited and new work commissioned by Contemporary Art Museum Houston.

Francisca María Velasco, Lawrence, KS
Grant: $15,000
Project: Reclaiming Home: Remembering the Topeka Bottoms 

Reclaiming Home is a project led by an interdisciplinary team of artists and scholars working with the community to creatively recreate the Bottoms neighborhood through storytelling, mapping, film, and art. This project aims to foster progress toward racial equity through a combination of research, dialogue, and action. Reclaiming Home will create a multimedia public exhibition to tell the stories of Black and Brown communities displaced through urban renewal of the 1950s, when more than 3,000 Topekans were forced to leave their homes and businesses in the Bottoms district to make way for new real estate development. The project will premiere in spring 2025 at ArtsConnect Topeka, with additional presentations in community venues.

Moraa Nyaribo, St. Louis, MO
Grant: $15,000
Project: Nyuso

Nyuso celebrates the fusion of traditional African artistry and Afrofuturism through a captivating exhibition of contemporary masks. Crafted from unconventional materials like synthetic hair, cowrie shells, glass beads, brass, aluminum, and found objects, masks serve as artistic expressions and cultural artifacts, exploring themes of identity, heritage, and transformation. Premiering at the Kranzberg Arts Center in April 2025, the exhibition will feature meticulously designed gallery spaces, immersive multimedia experiences, and dynamic outreach events, including a performance in Forest Park. Models and performers will don the masks, bringing them to life amidst the natural beauty of the park. This outdoor spectacle aims to engage a broader audience, sparking curiosity, fostering dialogue, and deepening appreciation for the cultural heritage and contemporary interpretations embodied in the artworks.

Why Arts, Omaha, NE
Grant: $15,000
Project: Community Visions Mural Expansion Project

The Community Visions Mural Expansion Project represents phase two of a three-part project intended to both represent and beautify the community of Omaha, Nebraska. In 2014, Why Arts unveiled phase one of Community Visions: a 9’ x 163’ installation of five murals as part of the grand opening of the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center (CEC) on the campus of the University of Nebraska Omaha. Phase two will expand the project with two additional murals measuring 10’ x 60’. This expansion project is a demonstration of the CEC’s commitment to public art and Why Art’s dedication to supporting community artists, creating meaningful arts education opportunities, celebrating diverse cultures and ethnicities, and providing inclusive arts engagement experiences for the entire community.

For more information, please visit maaa.org/artisticinnovations.

Header photography credit: Image features artwork by Artistic Innovations grantee Francisca María Velasco, using testimony by Joe Martinez: ‘Nothing Left But Memories’, used to reconstruct a house of the destroyed Bottoms neighborhood. Photo credit: Madison Tubbs