Mid-America Arts Alliance

What Mid-America Arts Alliance does

Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Regional Arts Organization founded in 1972 and headquartered at 2018 Baltimore Ave., Kansas City, Missouri. It serves as a federally designated intermediary that channels foundation and government arts funding to individual artists, nonprofit arts organizations, and communities across a six-state region of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, with select programs extending nationally.

M-AAA operates a portfolio of grant programs, fellowships, and professional development services rather than a single product. Core programs include Artistic Innovations (grants up to $15,000 for new works, $2M+ deployed since 2012), Artist INC (an eight-week professional development and peer networking program reaching 2,700-3,500+ artists over 16 years), Catalyze ($10,000 fellowships to 25 Arkansas artists annually, launched 2023 with Windgate Foundation), Interchange ($25,000 fellowships for 16 socially engaged artists per cohort, funded by Mellon), Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants ($10,000-$25,000 matching grants for military-connected arts programming, scaling from 26 to 48 organizations and $750K to $886K disbursed between 2022 and 2025), ExhibitsUSA (deeply discounted traveling exhibitions), and the Regional Touring Program. National initiatives include Jazz Road (with South Arts) and Walking Together (with the other five US RAOs).

The organization is funded almost entirely through foundation grants and government pass-throughs rather than commercial revenue. Primary funders include the National Endowment for the Arts, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Windgate Foundation, Hearst Foundations, William T. Kemper Foundation, and Wallace Foundation, supplemented by individual donations. All programs are free to applicants; the business model is grantmaking intermediation, with no proprietary technology, commercial product, or paid pricing tier. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Mid-America Arts Alliance

Legal name

Mid-America Arts Alliance

Website

https://maaa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mid-America Arts Alliance is a 501(c)(3) Regional Arts Organization founded in 1972 that channels foundation and government arts funding to individual artists, nonprofit arts organizations, and communities across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas through grants, fellowships, professional development, and traveling exhibitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Arts Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Performing Arts Companies (7111), Fine Arts Schools (611610)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC), Cultural Centers & Community Cultural Organizations (BPAGAHAD)

Keywords

• Arts grant programs
• Artist professional development
• Traveling exhibitions service
• Regional arts organization
• Arts fellowships programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Kansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Philanthropic Revenue: M-AAA is funded primarily through grants and contributions from private foundations including the National Endowment for the Arts, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Windgate Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Hearst Foundations, William T. Kemper Foundation, Wallace Foundation, and others. This constitutes the dominant revenue stream enabling its grantmaking to artists and organizations.
2. Government Arts Funding Pass-Through: As a Regional Arts Organization, M-AAA receives federal and state arts agency funding (e.g., NEA partnership agreements) which it uses to administer grant programs and provide services to its regional constituency.
3. Donor Contributions: The organization accepts tax-deductible charitable contributions from individuals and organizations to support its mission of strengthening artists, cultural organizations, and communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Mid-America Arts Alliance is a nonprofit Regional Arts Organization that administers competitive grant programs, fellowships, and professional development training to individual artists and nonprofit arts organizations across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and beyond. It also operates the ExhibitsUSA traveling exhibition program and a Regional Touring Program that distribute discounted exhibitions and touring artists to community venues. All programs are offered free of charge to eligible applicants and are funded by foundation grants, federal arts funding, and donor contributions.

Product overview

Mid-America Arts Alliance is a nonprofit Regional Arts Organization serving Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and beyond. The organization operates as a platform of interconnected grant programs, fellowships, and professional development services rather than a single unified product. Its core offerings include: Artist INC (professional development training), Artistic Innovations (grants up to $15,000 for new works), Catalyze ($10,000 fellowships for Arkansas artists), Interchange ($25,000 fellowships for socially engaged artists), Jazz Road (national jazz artist grants), Walking Together (folklife grants for communities of color), and Creative Forces (military community arts grants). Additional programs include ExhibitsUSA (traveling exhibitions), Regional Touring Program, Cultural Sustainability grants, Engage (organizational capacity building), and Folk and Traditional Arts Initiative. These programs collectively strengthen artists, cultural organizations, and communities through grants, fellowships, professional development, and peer networking opportunities across the lower Midwest and beyond.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Artistic Innovations: Grant program supporting the development of new, original works in the six-state region with grants up to $15,000
• Artist INC
• Artist Leadership Fellows
• Catalyze
• Interchange
• Creative Forces
• ExhibitsUSA
• Regional Touring Program

Products and services

• Artist INC Professional development program empowering artists to take control of their careers through an eight-week in-person seminar covering business skills, entrepreneurial challenges, and peer networking; includes Artist INC Express (weekend intensive) and What Works introductory workshop.
• Artistic Innovations Cost-sharing grant program supporting the development of new, original works in the six-state region, offering grants up to $15,000 to artists and nonprofit arts organizations for creating and presenting new work across dance, film, literature, music, theater, and visual arts.
• Artist Leadership Fellows Program strengthening the professional skills of the next generation of artist leaders; nominated artists participate in an eight-week virtual program covering goal-setting, financial strategy, marketing, contracts, legal business structure, time management, and self-care.
• Catalyze Practice-based fellowship combining money, mentoring, and management for individual artists in central Arkansas and the Arkansas Delta; awards $10,000 fellowships to 25 artists annually with one-on-one coaching sessions and a professional development retreat.
• Interchange Practice-based fellowship supporting socially engaged artists with $25,000 awards to 16 regional artists per cohort; provides professional development retreat weekends, quarterly workshops, and one-to-one mentorship for artists working with communities on social change.
• Jazz Road National initiative in partnership with South Arts providing grants for jazz artists, including Jazz Road Tours (up to $15,000 for developing tours) and Jazz Road Creative Residencies ($5,000–$40,000 for artist-proposed residencies).
• Walking Together National funding program supporting folklife and traditional arts rooted in communities of color, awarding $15,000 grants for traditional artists/practitioners and $50,000 grants for community organizations.
• Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants National Endowment for the Arts partnership program enhancing health and well-being for military-connected individuals through arts initiatives; offers matching grants of up to $25,000 for advanced projects and up to $10,000 for emerging projects.
• Engage Suite of capacity-building workshops providing customized technical assistance to help arts and cultural organizations adapt, innovate, and increase resilience; addresses leadership transitions, fluctuating funding, and operational constraints.
• ExhibitsUSA Traveling exhibition program offering deeply discounted arts and humanities exhibitions at nonprofit prices to museums, galleries, libraries, and community venues nationwide.
• Regional Touring Program Program supporting organizations bringing touring artists to communities across the six-state region, providing grants and coordination for touring performances and artists.
• Cultural Sustainability Grant program supporting organizational sustainability and cultural initiatives at regional and national levels; recipients include the LEAD Agency (Tar Creek documentary) and The Black Actor's League.
• Folk and Traditional Arts Initiative Regional program supporting folk and traditional arts initiatives and traditional artists in the six-state region, including capacity building and direct support for traditional arts practitioners.
• Future Pathways Free webinar series providing opportunities and professional development resources for arts organizations across the region.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2,700 artists have completed Artist INC and Artist INC Express over 16 years across 7 states
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• South ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerM-AAA partners with South Arts on Jazz Road, a national initiative to spread jazz throughout the country, strengthen work opportunities and compensation for jazz artists, and bolster engagement between jazz musicians, presenters, and communities. M-AAA serves as a regional partner within the national network of Regional Arts Organizations for this program.
• US Regional Arts Organizations (US RAOs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerM-AAA is one of six Regional Arts Organizations that collectively form US RAOs. Together they partner with NEA, state arts agencies, and other funders to develop and deliver programs. US RAOs invested over $18.4 million in FY2023 across nearly 2,400 grants reaching more than 1,000 communities. M-AAA co-manages Walking Together with all six US RAOs.
• Mid Atlantic ArtssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerM-AAA partners with Mid Atlantic Arts on the Walking Together program, a national funding program supporting folklife and traditional arts rooted in communities of color, managed collectively by the six US Regional Arts Organizations.
• Creative WestsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerM-AAA partners with Creative West on the National Leaders of Color Fellowship, a national fellowship program managed by the regional arts organizations to support artists and leaders of color.
• Charity NavigatorsecondaryOthersM-AAA is rated by Charity Navigator (EIN: 237303693), indicating financial transparency and accountability as a nonprofit organization.
• Civic ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivic Arts is a partner in the Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, an initiative of the NEA in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. M-AAA manages the community engagement grants component of this initiative alongside Civic Arts.
• Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Henry M. Jackson Foundation is a partner in the Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, working alongside M-AAA, NEA, and the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve health, well-being, and quality of life for military populations exposed to trauma.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• South Arts: One of the six U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs) serving the Southeastern states, South Arts operates the same intermediary model as M-AAA — distributing national foundation and NEA funding to local artists and arts organizations through grants, fellowships, and touring/exhibition programs (including co-management of Jazz Road with M-AAA).
• Mid Atlantic Arts: RAO serving the Mid-Atlantic states with a comparable grantmaking, touring, and professional development portfolio; co-manages the national Walking Together folklife program with M-AAA and the other US RAOs, making it a direct structural peer.
• Arts Midwest: RAO serving the upper Midwest states with an analogous portfolio of grants, fellowships, and touring/exhibition programs, including the national Shakespeare in American Communities initiative. Operates the same intermediary model and NEA partnership framework as M-AAA.
• Creative West (formerly WESTAF): RAO serving the Western U.S., co-manages the National Leaders of Color Fellowship with M-AAA and the other US RAOs. Directly comparable as a regional arts intermediary with grants, fellowships, and capacity-building programming.
• New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA): RAO serving the six New England states with the same NEA-funded grantmaking and touring/presenting model as M-AAA, including programs like New England Presenters and CreativeGround — a structural peer in the US RAOs collective.

Broad incumbents

• Americans for the Arts: National nonprofit service organization for the arts that, like M-AAA, provides advocacy, capacity building, research, and program delivery to arts organizations nationwide, but at a larger national scale and without the regional grantmaking mandate that anchors M-AAA's model.
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): Federal arts funder and M-AAA's primary upstream capital source via CFDA #45.025 partnership agreements. Operates a much broader national grants portfolio and policy/advocacy mandate than M-AAA, but is the parent of the RAO funding framework M-AAA executes against.
• Theatre Communications Group (TCG): National service organization for the nonprofit theater field providing grants, professional development, advocacy, and convenings — comparable functional mix to M-AAA but discipline-specific (theater) and national rather than geographic in scope.
• Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP): National service membership organization for the performing arts presenting and touring field. Comparable to M-AAA's Regional Touring and ExhibitsUSA programs in that it connects touring artists with presenters, but operates at national membership scale rather than regional grantmaking.

Others

• Grantmakers in the Arts: National association of arts funders and grantmakers. Adjacent to M-AAA's model — M-AAA is both a recipient of arts philanthropy and an intermediary that regrants foundation capital, making Grantmakers in the Arts a thematic peer in the arts funding ecosystem rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kcmaaa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwNRz5dIoW5xRKmL5gJKn4A
• Facebookfacebook.com/kcmaaa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mid-america-arts-alliance
• Instagraminstagram.com/midamericaartsalliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mid-America Arts Alliance