The Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) is excited to announce the Regional Touring Program grants.
Donor Name: Mid-America Arts Alliance
State: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: Ongoing
Size of the Grant: Up to $5,000
Details: 
The M-AAA Regional Touring Program has a long-standing reputation for its commitment to advancing the arts and fostering community engagement. The program and its grants empower organizations to present outstanding performances, exhibitions, and educational initiatives that reach diverse audiences throughout the region.
The Regional Touring Program (RTP) provides support for projects by presenting organizations showcasing the work of artists from elsewhere in the M-AAA region.

Presenters that book an artist listed on a state touring roster may be awarded up to 50 percent of the artist’s fee.
Presenters that book an artist that lives in the region, but is not listed on a touring roster, may be awarded up to 25 percent of the artist’s fee.
Presenters located in rural communities may receive an additional 10 percent of the artist’s fee.

The objective of the Regional Touring Program (RTP) grant is to support projects by presenting organizations showcasing the work of touring artists from elsewhere in the M-AAA region. Presenters must be incorporated in M-AAA’s six-state region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas).
The RTP grant is designed for projects to engage and deepen the impact of arts programming for M-AAA regional audiences through exposure, interaction, and outreach engagement.
Presenters Grant Considerations

Presenters that book an artist listed on a state touring roster may be awarded up to 50 percent of the artist’s fee.
Presenters that book an artist that lives in the region, but is not listed on a touring roster, may be awarded up to 25 percent of the artist’s fee.
Presenters located in rural communities may receive an additional 10 percent of the artist’s fee (or financial support of up 10 percent of the grant amount) will be awarded by M-AAA if the applicant organization is located in a rural community. Rural status is determined by the Department of Commerce’s Metropolitan Statistical Area Rating and is generally defined as having a population of less than 50,000 people in the applicant’s service area. 

Presenters may book artists of any discipline and grants require two (2) public-facing activities that builds an appreciation for the featured artist or their creative discipline: 

A feature presentation (e.g., concert, performance); and 
An outreach engagement (e.g., artist talk, master class, workshop) to involve the general public in the work of the featured artist or educate an audience about the art form.

Artist Grant Considerations
Although RTP grants are awarded directly to presenting organizations, touring artists from outside the presenter’s state but within M-AAA’s service region can help market their programming by taking the following steps:

Each state’s touring roster includes artists working in conjunction with our state arts agency partners to bring arts experiences to wider audiences. To be included on your state’s roster, artists should contact or register with their state arts agency’s touring roster. 
Artists can request a list of Organizational Grantees that have taken advantage of this grant by completing a Records Request Form 
Create a website and ensure all relevant contact information is up to date. Note, Presenters are required to submit a link to your website as part of the application process.
Artists can use the marketing flyer to download and promote their programming 

Funding Information

Matching grants awards of up to $5,000.
It occurs between M-AAA’s fiscal year: July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Eligible Projects
Eligible projects must:

Include artwork that spans one or more creative disciplines including, but not limited to: 

Folk/Traditional Arts (Crafts, Visual Arts, Dance)
Dance/movement (Ballet, Ethnic, Jazz, Tribal, Modern)
Literature (Fiction, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Playwriting, Poetry)
Visual Arts (Collage, Experimental, Graphics, Multimedia, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture)


Exclusively feature an in-region artist from outside the applicant’s home state in at least one feature presentation a minimum of 30 to 60-minutes in length that is open to the general public.

A fully executed contract is required for final grant award determination and must include the name of the artist, their contact person or agent’s name, their current contact information (mailing address, phone number and email address), the applicant organization’s name, a brief description of the agreed upon activities, the venue name and address or the streaming platform where activities will take place, its dates(s), time(s), and the artist’s fees associated with the project.
If you are in the process of finalizing an Artist Contract at the time of submitting your application, you will need to provide a draft of the Contract or a Letter of Intent for our review and records.  Note, award decisions require a fully executed artist contract on file. Prior to the issuance of grant funds, a copy of the fully executed Artist Contract is required for M-AAA to award the grant amount requested.


Have public-facing events that occur between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024 in M-AAA’s six-state region. Note: Funded project activities are not required to be free but must be open to the general public. Any events available only to subscription ticket holders are not considered open to the general public.
Carry out at least two public-facing events with a minimum of 30 to 60-minutes in length:
A feature or premier presentation eventof the work by the touring artist can include, but is not limited to:

Concert 
Performance 
Other creative approaches


An outreach or educational event can be presented either by the touring artist, scholar/educator(s), or another artist who works with similar themes or the same art form as that involved in the feature presentation. All activities must educate the community about the art form(s) and provide direct interaction between the artist(s) and audience. Activities can include, but is not limited to: 

Artist Talk
Exhibitions
Lecture/demonstrations 
Master classes
Residencies 
Workshops 
Other creative approaches


Takes place in an accessible facility or on an accessible online streaming platform that allows for artist and audience interaction before, during and/or after the feature presentation and/or outreach engagement; and
Attempt to engage underserved audiences who lack access to the arts due to geography, economic conditions, ethnicity, disability, or age, including but not limited to underrepresented cultural groups, immigrants, veterans and active military, persons in institutions, those living below the poverty line and youth at risk.
Have a grant request of no more than $5,000. Applicants are encouraged to request an amount that is reflective of the artist’s fee and their capacity to manage the grant;

Grant funding may not be used for indirect project costs. Funds must be used exclusively for direct project expenses incurred in the artist’s fee and production of public-facing events.
M-AAA grant funding cannot be used for:

Contracts with artists/personnel who reside outside M-AAA’s region;
Compensation for applicant organization’s board of directors;
Sub-granting, regranting, or cash awards;
Indirect costs; 
Expenses associated with the project’s opening or closing (e.g., receptions); and
Expenses associated with benefits or fundraiser events.





Eligibility Criteria
Applicant Organizations must: 

Be a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization, a unit of state or local government, or a federally recognized tribal community; 
Be incorporated in and currently conducting business in one or more states in the M-AAA region, which includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas;
Have and provide a valid 9-numbers Employer Identification Numbers(EIN) which will be verified using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search Tool.
Have and provide a valid 12-character alphanumeric (Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) ID which will be verified in the System for Award Management (SAM) M-AAA’s sub-grantees are required to have a valid UEI ID but not an entity registration via SAM.gov.  

Note, applicants may submit a confirmation receipt received at the time you requested a UEI ID (or screenshot) as proof while your entity is being validated and assigned a 12-character alphanumeric from SAM.gov;


Apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal sponsor/agent are not allowed;
Commit to M-AAA’s Grantee Assurance of Compliance and Federal Suspension and Disbarment Policy. 
Agree to credit acknowledgment of M-AAA and the NEA’s support in all promotional materials. 
Be in good standing with M-AAA, have no overdue or delinquent documentation and/or reports.
M-AAA does not accept applications from fiscal agents (e.g., bank, trust company); 
Organizations may submit a maximum of three (3) applications and receive awards for up to three (3) different projects in a single fiscal year (July 1–June 30). Each applicant is eligible for an aggregate amount of $15,000 in a single fiscal year; and
Similarly, an artist, ensemble, or scholar/educator can be the recipient of an aggregate of $15,000 through successful RTP grant applications submitted to M-AAA in a single fiscal year.

Those that are not eligible to apply include:

For-profit organizations;
Organizations whose primary focus, programming, and mission is not specifically arts related;
State Arts Agencies;
Fiscal sponsors; and
Public television and other public media organizations.

For more Inforamtion, visit M-AAA.