FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2006
Contact: Sarah McGreer Hoyt
sarah@maaa.org
Phone: 816-516-1993

Mid-America Arts Alliance Receives $1.5 Million to Continue Partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has renewed its partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA), a non-profit regional arts organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, for NEH on the Road, a program that features traveling versions of NEH-supported exhibitions. The three-year renewal includes a $1.5 million grant for M-AAA’s Visual Arts and Humanities Division to continue touring selected exhibitions to small and midsize museums throughout the United States.

“Museum exhibitions supported by the NEH enliven the cultural life of our nation’s cities and communities,” said Bruce Cole, Chairman of the NEH. “NEH on the Road assists us in extending the reach and the life of these exhibits, bringing the best of the humanities to more Americans.”

The concept for NEH-supported touring exhibitions began taking shape in 2001. Through research conducted for the NEH, M-AAA found that small and midsize museums had a great desire for high-quality humanities exhibitions tailored to fit their institutions’ size, preferences, and capabilities. NEH on the Road was created by the NEH to fill that need.

With the approval of a $1 million NEH grant in 2003, M-AAA began working with leading cultural institutions such as the Asia Society in New York and The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, to adapt NEH-supported exhibitions for smaller institutions. The traveling exhibitions contain artifacts and images from the original shows and retain their intellectual context.

“We’ve been very happy with the success of NEH on the Road over the past three years,” said Mary Kennedy McCabe, Executive Director of M-AAA. “This partnership provides us with the resources to continue what we do best: bring cultural opportunities to all Americans.”

Current NEH on the Road exhibitions include: Asian Games: The Art of Contest, which examines the Asian origins of board games such as backgammon and chess; Farm Life: A Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors, which explores the political, economic, and cultural changes that have occurred in rural, agricultural communities; Wrapped in Pride: Ghanian Kente and African American Identity, which includes vibrant and highly symbolic examples of kente cloth; and Heroes of the Sky: Adventures in Early Flight, 1903-1939, an exhibition featuring the first men and women to see the potential of flight.

Terri Ballard, Director of the Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce and Depot Museum in Sedalia, Missouri, was one of the first to host Heroes of the Sky. Ballard noted that Sedalia’s proximity to Whiteman Air Force Base made their visitors’ experience especially meaningful. Ballard said, “This exhibit gave us the perfect opportunity to tell our story. Heroes of the Sky was a great way for us to educate our community.” While the exhibition was at the museum, their attendance was no less than 300% higher than the same period in the previous year.

NEH on the Road exhibitions have traveled beyond our region and across the nation from New York to Utah and Florida to Oregon. Host institutions are selected in communities with populations of 300,000 or fewer. M-AAA’s Visual Arts and Humanities Division manages publicity, booking, storage, shipping, insurance, and maintenance of the exhibitions. In addition, M-AAA staff develops a full range of public programming, including educational materials, ideas for lectures, film screenings, and other ways to engage the communities with the exhibitions.

The Visual Arts and Humanities Division also includes ExhibitsUSA, M-AAA’s major national exhibition-touring program, which has developed and toured 155 exhibitions to more than 1,000 institutions in 49 states and Canada since 1989. Each year, ExhibitsUSA tours an average of 30 exhibitions. Between 1999 and 2003, these shows were seen by 3.3 million people in communities of all sizes across the United States.

According to Dee Harris, Director of Visual Arts and Humanities, additional exhibitions for NEH on the Road will be developed and toured over the next two years. “Our staff and expertise with ExhibitsUSA made us ideal partners for the NEH project,” said Harris. “We look forward to facing new challenges and successes in bringing high-quality humanities exhibitions to underserved audiences.”

NEH on the Road and ExhibitsUSA operate from Mid-America Arts Alliance’s headquarters in the heart of Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District. M-AAA is currently conducting a $2 million capital campaign to fully purchase and renovate the headquarters building. When completed, a multipurpose gallery space will provide M-AAA with a venue in which to stage diverse visual and performing arts offerings for local audiences.

M-AAA’s mission is to enrich communities through cultural experiences. Founded in 1972, the organization is governed by a board of directors drawn from its partner states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Additional major support for M-AAA is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, participant state arts agencies, and leading foundations and corporations. For further information, visit the website at www.maaa.org.

###