Bread and Roses Missouri
Bread and Roses Missouri is a St. Louis-based 501c3 nonprofit that produces original theater, the annual Workers' Opera, youth arts workshops, and a community choir to elevate working-class voices and advance economic and social justice through arts programming.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersSt. Louis, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Bread and Roses Missouri does
Bread and Roses Missouri is a 501c3 nonprofit arts and social-justice organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, operating as an independent entity since 2015 after originating as a project of Missouri Jobs with Justice in 2003. The organization's core function is producing arts and humanities programming — including the annual Workers' Opera, the Workers' Theater Project (original plays and radio plays), the Youth Initiative, the Workers' Choir, the Caregiving Project, and the Social Justice Shorts Festival — that elevates the stories of working-class people and uses cultural expression as a vehicle for economic and social change. Its primary beneficiaries are workers and working families, underserved youth ages 7–12, and partner labor unions and community organizations in the St. Louis region.
The organization operates as a portfolio of in-person, event-driven programs rather than technology products. Performances and workshops are delivered through a mix of prestige venues (Missouri History Museum, Metro Theater Company) and non-traditional spaces (union halls, churches, house parties, recreation centers, and 9 St. Louis County Library branches). The Youth Initiative scaled to 22 sites serving over 600 youth in summer 2023, and more than 30 workers-turned-actors have been featured in Workers' Opera productions since 2015. The technology footprint is limited to a Wix-hosted marketing site, Givebutter donation processing, Cur8/Showtix4u ticketing, and standard social media channels.
Revenue is generated entirely through donations, foundation grants, and corporate/union sponsorships. Major funders include the National Endowment for the Arts, St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, Arts & Education Council, Missouri Humanities Council, and unions such as Laborers 110. Ticket pricing is deliberately accessible — $15 general admission, free Union Night admission for union members, free Caregiving Project performances with reservations, and a pay-what-you-can option — reflecting the organization's mission of fair compensation for labor and barrier-free access. The organization employs 7 core staff plus project-based teaching artists, governed by an 11-member board of directors.
Bread and Roses Missouri firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bread and Roses Missouri
- Legal name
- Bread and Roses Missouri
- Website
- https://breadandrosesmo.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Bread and Roses Missouri is a St. Louis-based 501c3 nonprofit that produces original theater, the annual Workers' Opera, youth arts workshops, and a community choir to elevate working-class voices and advance economic and social justice through arts programming.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bread and Roses Missouri industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Community Arts and Cultural Programs
- NAICS
- Performing Arts Companies (7111), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Musical Groups and Artists (711130), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)
Keywords
Where Bread and Roses Missouri is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- St. Louis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bread and Roses Missouri business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: Relies on individual donors for operational support. Donation page available via Givebutter platform.
- Foundation Grants: Major funders include National Endowment for the Arts, St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, Arts & Education Council, Missouri Humanities Council, and other regional foundations that support arts and social justice programming.
- Corporate/Union Sponsorships: Off the Clock event sponsorship opportunities offered to unions, organizations, and businesses. Laborers 110 listed as sponsor for Workers' Opera 2024 public performances.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | One-time | General admission tickets |
| Other | One-time | Caregiving Project performances |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Bread and Roses Missouri product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bread and Roses Missouri organizes and produces arts and humanities events, exhibits, and workshops for and about workers and their families. Its core offerings include annual theatrical performances (The Workers' Opera), original plays and radio plays (The Workers' Theater Project), artist-led workshops for underserved youth (The Youth Initiative), a community protest-singing choir (The Workers' Choir), and special projects such as exhibits and short-play festivals focused on labor and social justice themes.
Product overview
Bread and Roses Missouri is a nonprofit arts organization that organizes and produces arts and humanities events, exhibits, and workshops for and about workers and their families. The organization operates as a portfolio of distinct programs rather than a unified technology product. Its core offerings include The Workers' Opera (annual live theater performance by workers for workers), The Workers' Theater Project (original plays and radio plays), The Youth Initiative (arts workshops for underserved youth), The Workers' Choir (community singing group), Special Projects (exhibits like 'Art is Labor'), and the Social Justice Shorts Festival. These programs work together to amplify worker voices through various artistic mediums.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- The Workers' Opera: Annual live performance written and performed by workers, for workers. A combination of theater sketches, music, storytelling and humor about economic and social justice issues impacting working class people.
- The Youth Initiative
- The Workers' Theater Project
- The Workers' Choir
Products and services
- The Workers' Opera An annual live performance combining theater sketches, music, storytelling, and humor, written and performed by workers for workers, addressing economic and social justice issues affecting working-class people.
- The Workers' Theater Project Creates and produces original plays, radio plays, and performances that elevate real-life stories, struggles, and culture of working-class people, staged in union halls, community centers, and traditional theater venues.
- The Youth Initiative Artist-led workshops for underserved youth that provide high-quality arts instruction while exploring individual and community health issues and encouraging youth to embrace their role as community activists.
- The Workers' Choir An ongoing no-audition choir open to all levels and abilities, building community and solidarity among workers through protest songs from the Labor and Civil Rights Movements.
- Special Projects Exhibits and special arts projects such as the 'Art is Labor' exhibit highlighting labor history through art and artifacts with a focus on Saint Louis.
- Social Justice Shorts Festival A festival of short plays exploring a wide range of social justice issues, presented in partnership with A Call to Conscience: Interactive Theatre for Social Change.
- The Caregiving Project An original play exploring the challenges of caregiving, created based on interviews with local St. Louis caregivers, highlighting the lack of caregiving support in the workforce.
Quantifiable outcome
- Served over 600 youth at 22 sites in Summer 2023
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Bread and Roses Missouri
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Bread and Roses Missouri technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Bread and Roses Missouri partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Missouri Workers' CentercoreKey partner for Workers' Opera 2023 production 'Blue Light Special.' Missouri Workers' Center worked with Bread and Roses and Amazon STL8 organizing committee to tell stories of Amazon warehouse workers fighting for better pay and safer working conditions.
- Amazon STL8 Organizing CommitteecorePartnered for 2023 Workers' Opera to amplify the voices and struggles of Amazon warehouse workers at the world's largest employer.
- A Call to Conscience: Interactive Theatre for Social ChangecorePartnership for Social Justice Shorts 2026 festival. Collaborates on programming that explores social justice issues through short plays.
- Missouri Jobs with Justice (MO JwJ)coreBirth organization - Bread and Roses was originally a project of Missouri Jobs with Justice, born from a 2003 art exhibit that spurred dialogue around social justice themes. Led by Joan Suarez as a project of MO JwJ before establishing as independent nonprofit in 2015.
- St. Louis County LibrarycorePartner site for Youth Initiative summer programming at nine St. Louis County Library branches serving youth ages 7-12.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Bread and Roses Missouri competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Appalshop: Long-established Appalachian arts and media nonprofit producing theater, film, and music rooted in working-class community identity — broader portfolio but comparable mission of working-class cultural expression.
- Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Major Chicago-based ensemble theater with a documented commitment to producing work that addresses contemporary social issues — broader scope and larger scale but overlapping category of issue-driven American theater.
Direct peers
- Cornerstone Theater Company: Community-based theater company that creates original work in collaboration with non-actors from underserved communities — directly comparable mission of participatory, issue-driven theater production.
- Junebug Productions: New Orleans-based arts organization producing original theater rooted in Black Southern working-class experience and social justice — comparable niche of working-class, community-rooted original theater production.
- San Francisco Mime Troupe: Long-running political theater ensemble producing free outdoor performances explicitly addressing labor and social justice issues — closest analog to Bread and Roses' Workers' Opera model and labor-aligned mission.
- El Teatro Campesino: Theater company founded by César Chávez and the United Farm Workers that creates original performances from farm workers' lived experiences — directly comparable origin (organized labor + theater) and social-justice production model.
- A Call to Conscience: Interactive Theatre for Social Change: St. Louis-based partner organization producing interactive theater on social justice issues including the co-presented Social Justice Shorts Festival — overlapping content area and explicit partnership relationship.
- TEAM (Theater of the Emerging American Moment): Ensemble-based political theater producing original works exploring labor, immigration, and class — comparable in combining devised original work with explicit social-justice framing.
Regional players
- Upstream Theater: St. Louis-based professional theater company producing socially engaged contemporary international work — comparable regional theater ecosystem presence and shared venue market.
- Metro Theater Company: St. Louis-based theater company producing original work for young audiences with social-justice themes — directly comparable geography and overlapping youth-arts mission with Bread and Roses' Youth Initiative.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bread and Roses Missouri social profiles
Digital presenceBread and Roses Missouri financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bread and Roses Missouri leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Bread and Roses Missouri funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bread and Roses Missouri M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bread and Roses Missouri
What does Bread and Roses Missouri do?
Bread and Roses Missouri organizes and produces arts and humanities events, exhibits, and workshops for and about workers and their families. Its core offerings include annual theatrical performances (The Workers' Opera), original plays and radio plays (The Workers' Theater Project), artist-led workshops for underserved youth (The Youth Initiative), a community protest-singing choir (The Workers' Choir), and special projects such as exhibits and short-play festivals focused on labor and social justice themes.
Is Bread and Roses Missouri a public or private company?
Bread and Roses Missouri is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Bread and Roses Missouri founded?
Bread and Roses Missouri was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Bread and Roses Missouri based?
Bread and Roses Missouri is headquartered in St. Louis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bread and Roses Missouri make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are foundation Grants and corporate/Union Sponsorships.
Who are Bread and Roses Missouri's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Appalshop and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Direct peers are Cornerstone Theater Company, Junebug Productions, San Francisco Mime Troupe, El Teatro Campesino, A Call to Conscience: Interactive Theatre for Social Change and TEAM (Theater of the Emerging American Moment). Regional players are Upstream Theater and Metro Theater Company.
Does Bread and Roses Missouri have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bread and Roses Missouri.
What industry is Bread and Roses Missouri in?
Bread and Roses Missouri's product category is Community Arts and Cultural Programs. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAHAB, Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music). Its NAICS code is 7111.