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Missouri Arts Council to award $4.2M to support the arts statewide

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -The Missouri Arts Council today announced it will award 360 annual grants for fiscal year 2016 totaling more than $4.2 million to support arts events, performances, education, and services throughout the state.

The grants support the richness and diversity of the arts in Missouri, from Fine Linen Drama in St. James and the Boys Choir of Springfield to the Saint Louis Artists’ Guild and KC Women in Film. The grantees include 33 community arts agencies and arts councils such as the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and the Kirksville Arts Association.  The grants fund programs in arts education, arts services, community arts, dance, electronic media, festivals, folk arts, literature, minority arts, multidiscipline, music, theater, and visual arts. The 360 annual grants total $4,215,028.

The Council will also award approximately an additional $350,000 throughout the 2016 fiscal year via monthly grants. Monthly grants support smaller scale projects primarily in arts education, community arts, minority arts, and performances by artists in the Council’s Missouri Touring Directory.

During the 2015 fiscal year that concluded June 30, the Missouri Arts Council’s annual and monthly grants totaled $4.9 million to support programs by 600 organizations in 163 Missouri communities.  Missouri nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences annually generate $1.1 billion in economic activity, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity III study by Americans for the Arts. Nationwide, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, the arts contribute more than $698 million to the economy.

The Missouri Arts Council’s total FY16 budget of $5.8 million supports the grants, all other programs and services, and the administration of the Council.  Sources of funding include an appropriation of $4.8 million from the Governor and legislature, $696,800 from the National Endowment for the Arts, and most of the remaining balance in the Missouri Arts Council Trust Fund.

The grants are awarded through volunteer advisory panels of Missouri arts professionals and community representatives. The panelists review the applications to evaluate artistic quality, community involvement, and management ability. The resulting scores are used in a funding formula to determine the grant amounts.

The complete list of annual grants is posted in “Who We Are” at missouriartscouncil.org. For more information, contact the Missouri Arts Council at moarts@ded.mo.gov.

About the Missouri Arts Council
The Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The council provides support to nonprofit organizations through grants that meet its strategic goals:

  • Increase participation in the arts in Missouri
  • Grow Missouri’s economy using the arts
  • Strengthen Missouri education through the arts

The Missouri Arts Council awards grants to organizations to stimulate the growth, development, and appreciation of the arts in Missouri. This funding makes possible quality arts programming to communities throughout the state. In addition to financial assistance, the council provides expertise in community development, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, arts education, artistic disciplines (visual arts, music, literature, theater, dance, festivals, and film/media), and more.