Missouri Arts Council executive director Beverly Strohmeyer announced today the award of annual grants to 331 nonprofit arts organizations for fiscal year 2013. The grants support programs in arts education, arts services, community arts, dance, electronic media, festivals, literature, multidiscipline, music, theater, visual arts, folk arts, and minority arts.
The Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
In addition to the grant awards, approximately 200 organizations will be awarded monthly grants during the fiscal year July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. The total funding of $4.33 million supports more than 100 communities throughout the state.
“These grants are crucial to helping move Missouri’s economy forward and fortifying the cultural welfare of Missouri communities,” Strohmeyer said in a news release. “The arts in Missouri are creating thousands of jobs, playing a significant role in attracting and retaining businesses, attracting tourists, enhancing education, and catalyzing community revitalization.”
The depth and diversity of the arts throughout Missouri are thoroughly represented by the grant recipients, the council says. They include organizations such as the Sedalia Symphony Society, Downtown Springfield Community Cinema, School of the Ozarks/Boger Gallery, City of Maples Repertory Theatre, Park University/Ethnic Voices Poetry Series, Puxico R-8 School District, KC Fringe Festival, and more than 30 community arts groups including Caldwell County Arts, Friends of Historic Boonville, and the Eminence Area Arts Council.
During FY11 (the most recent year for which data is available), Missouri Arts Council grantees provided 6,292 full- and part-time jobs whose salaries resulted in $3.4 million in state tax revenues, hired more than 55,400 individual artists, generated $158 million in revenue, and produced more than 15,300 arts events experienced by 8.1 million people.
The Missouri Arts Council’s total FY13 budget of $5.31 million, which supports the grants and all other programs, was obtained via an allocation of $600,000 in funding from the Governor and legislature, $698,600 from the National Endowment for the Arts, and $4.01 million from Missouri Trust Funds approved for spending by the Missouri Arts Council and Cultural Trust Board.
The grants are awarded through advisory panels of Missouri arts professionals and community representatives, who review the applications using the evaluation criteria of artistic quality, community involvement, and management ability. The applications’ scores are used in a funding formula to determine the grant amounts.
The complete list of annual grants can be seen here.
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 Missouri. In addition to financial assistance, the Missouri Arts 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.
