Mid-America Arts Alliance

Shuttered Venue Operators Grants Update: The U.S. Small Business Administration aims to reopen the application portal by the end of this week. In the meantime, the SBA says applicants may register for an application portal account. Read more: https://www.sba.gov//covid/shuttered-venue-operators-grant

Mark your calendars for this year's virtual Poetry Out Loud competition. The semifinals are May 2, the finals are May 27. Cheer on your state's students. Learn more: https://www.arts.gov//poetry-out-loud-national-finals-broa

Social cohesion is a basic requirement of healthy communities, especially now since the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted trauma and exposed social, racial, and health inequities across the country. A new report, WE-Making: How Arts & Culture Unite People to Work Toward Community Well-Being, shows that place-based arts and cultural practices, or creative placemaking, can help grow social cohesion to encourage community well-being. Learn more about it: https://communitydevelopment.art//arts-and-culture-unite-p

Looking for exhibitions that explore themes in social justice? ExhibitsUSA has options, including Working America, I Am a Man: Civil Rights Photographs in the American South, 19601970, and 1968: A Folsom Redemption, among others. Get more details: https://eusa.org

We are so excited that our colleagues at Artist INC are offering these free workshops for artists, taught by artists, throughout Nebraska. Learn more about these opportunities to grow your creative practice: https://artistinc.art/programs/artist-inc-express/

We are thrilled to help present jazz great Bobby Watson at the "We Always Swing" Jazz Series in Columbia, Missouri, this coming Sunday, April 18. Watson's appearance is made possible in part by a Regional Touring Program grant from Mid-America Arts Alliance. Get tickets: https://www.wealwaysswing.org/season/2020-2021/event.php... Learn more about bringing regional talent to your community: https://www.maaa.org/grants/regional-touring-program/

Our colleagues at the National Endowment for the Arts are now accepting submissions for the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge. It's open to all high school songwriters across the country. This national contest is for high school students with a passion for writing songs that could be part of a musical theater production and the wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musicals. The goal of the program is to engage professionals in the musical theater field in nurturing the next generation of songwriters. Learn more about it: https://www.arts.gov//2021-musical-theater-songwriting-cha

Looking for the numbers about how the arts matter in your state? The Arts Action Fund offers informational sheets with economic numbers, jobs, COVID-19 impact numbers, and more. Nationally, the Arts and Culture sector represents 4.5% of the nation's GDP, 5.1 million jobs, and generates $27.5 billion in federal, state, and local government revenue. It also has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, with lost revenue and lost jobs. Learn more about your state: https://www.artsactionfund.org/StateFactsheets

We thank the Mellon Foundation for their renewed support of our Interchange program for artists dedicated to social change.

We're hiring! Our team is looking for two interns: one for Programming and One for Communications. These internships are collaborative positions between the African American Artists Collective (AAAC) and our Professional Development Division. The goal of the internship is for Black/African American students to gain knowledge, network, and first-hand experience in the field of arts nonprofits. https://www.maaa.org/about/careers/

Jazz Road, offered through our colleagues at South Arts, has grants that can get emerging and mid-career jazz musicians on the road to tour across the country. Learn more about the opportunity at https://www.southarts.org/artist-grants-f//jazz-road-tours

The Small Business Administration opens the portal to the Shuttered Venue Operators grants TODAY at NOON. The grants offer more than $16 Billion in relief! Take time to review updated guidelines, access forms and checklists, watch tutorials, and more. https://www.sba.gov//covid/shuttered-venue-operators-grant

It's so great to see this story about the Duets exhibition at the Paseo Arts and Creativity Center in Oklahoma City on KFOR-TV. This project with AutismOklahoma.org was a recipient of one of M-AAA's Artistic Innovations Grants and demonstrates the incredible creativity we all have. https://kfor.com//the-art-of-expression-times-2-a-collabo/

This coming Friday, you can attend this free webinar about PPP Forgiveness Options & Income Tax Implications, organized by Americans for the Arts.

Artists in Topeka! Artist INC is heading your way this spring, but you can learn more about the program this Sunday through our virtual What Works Workshop at 11 a.m. Invest the time in your creative career. Register now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-inc-topeka-what-works-w... ArtsConnect Topeka

We send our congratulations to the 2021 Governor's Arts Awards recipients in Arkansas. What an incredible group! Arkansas Arts Council

Artists are invited to apply for the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, offering studio space and housing for two years in Tulsa, $40,000 stipend paid over two years, and more. Tulsa Artist Fellowship is accepting submissions for the 2021-2023 term through Jan. 15, 2021. Artists & Arts Workers find out more about incredible opportunity: https://www.tulsaartistfellowship.org

Congratulations to all the artists selected for 2020's Artists 360 cohort in Northwest Arkansas. We look forward to working with you!

Today, December 8 is the deadline for the Oklahoma Arts and Cultural Industry Relief Grants. https://www.arts.ok.gov/ReliefGrants.html Oklahoma Arts Council