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Interchange

Support for Socially Engaged Artists

Applications are now closed.

The Interchange program, rooted in Mid-America Arts Alliance’s commitment to nurturing the cultural fabric of communities across the heartland, acknowledges the pivotal role individual artists play as catalysts for change and community resilience. Artists, with their ability to navigate diverse perspectives and address civic challenges, emerge as connectors capable of inspiring dialogue and activating neighborhoods.

Interchange awards $25,000 practice-based fellowships to 16 regional artists, providing vital resources for their socially engaged creative practices. Unlike many other grant programs, Interchange is a practice-based grant, which is not specific to one project, but rather to the artist’s overall creative practice. 

 

Black man smiles holding his arms up ready to lead a dance class with people behind him getting ready.

Aaron Derell Gregory’s Love to Groove Movement School, LLC. Aaron is a 2024 Interchange grantee. Photo by Ben Semich.

Who Interchange is for 

The Interchange program is designed to strengthen individual artists in the M-AAA region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas) who have a history of impactful work with a socially engaged creative practice.

Kai Coggin’s Wednesday Night Poetry. Kai is a 2024 Interchange grantee. Photo courtesy of Kai Coggin.

Recognizing that there are a broad array of definitions and distinctions in the field commonly referred to as social and civic practice, Interchange uses the following broad definitions:

  • a current and ongoing artistic practice that includes working with communities (defined by geography or characteristics) to make change; 
  • a creative practice that responds to social issues, challenges, and opportunities; and/or 
  • a creative practice characterized by processes and products directly linked to their intended social impact.

 

 

 

What Interchange provides

Money: Interchange fellowships of $25,000 will be awarded to 16 regional artists in support of themselves and their socially engaged creative practices. Fellowships are awarded as practice-based grants, which are not specific to one project, but rather to the artist’s overall creative practice. 

Professional Development: Fellows will participate in two professional development retreat weekends over the 18-month program. Working in small peer groups with the support of artist peer facilitators, fellows will explore their practices, goals, legal and financial strategies, and emotional-support structures. 

One-to-One Mentorship: Ongoing support is provided throughout the program through quarterly 90-minute workshops and one-to-one mentoring sessions. The program culminates with the fellows sharing their practices and ideas with the field through a Social Practice in Conversation open to the public.

 

Interchange Grantees

Timeline

A Native American man in traditional costuming walks with other men, women, and children in a outdoor scene during sunset.

Photo courtesy of Joe Whittle, 2024 Interchange grantee.

  • Applications open February 20, 2024
  • Applications close April 15, 2024
  • Public announcement August 2024
  • Interchange Retreat August 10-11, 2024
  • Mid-Program Virtual Meeting #1 November 2, 2024
  • Mid-Program Virtual Meeting #2 February 6, 2025
  • Mid-Program Virtual Meeting #3 February 13, 2025
  • Mid-Program Virtual Meeting #4 May 8, 2025
  • Interchange Mid-Program Retreat August 9-10, 2025

 

About the program

A program of Mid-America Arts Alliance, Interchange is made possible through the support of the Mellon Foundation. Since its inception in 2019, Interchange has awarded three cohorts, totaling 48 artists across various communities in the region. The current third cohort with increased awards totaling $400,000 from the Mellon Foundation supports the program’s mission to advance the work of artists whose practice centers on socially engaged creative work.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.

Questions about the Interchange program? Contact artistservices@maaa.org for more information.

 

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

 

Three people kneel wearing plaid shirts performing in a theatrical setting with an outdoor scene projected on a dark wall behind them.

“Un Carol de Independence” by Daniel Stone, 2024 Interchange grantee. Photo by Daniel Stone.

Interchange News

Header photography: The 2021 cohort of Interchange artists visit Ryan Tenney’s Sankara Farm. Photographer: Amanda Julia Steinback

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