News Release
For Immediate Release: August 30, 2006
Contact: Andy Graham, Communications Manager, andrew@maaa.org, 816-421-1388

Mid-America Arts Alliance Receives Courtney S. Turner Charitable Trust Grant
Funds will support an exhibition initiative in the local Kansas City area

Mid-America Arts Alliance has received a grant in the amount of $75,000 from the Courtney S. Turner Charitable Trust to launch the Courtney S. Turner Exhibition Initiative. The new initiative will help Kansas City-area museums host high-quality traveling exhibitions through December 2009.

While Mid-America Arts Alliance is headquartered in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, a large number of area institutions cannot afford to host exhibitions offered through ExhibitsUSA, Mid-America’s traveling exhibitions program. However, more than 50 nonprofit museums within a 50-mile radius of Kansas City may be eligible to benefit from the grant, including those in areas as far-reaching as Atchison, Kan. The Exhibition Initiative will boost local marketing efforts and provide financial assistance of up to $5,000 per venue, enabling them to host dynamic shows and programming to increase attendance and attract new supporters.

“Kansas City boasts many excellent, nationally recognized art collections, but there are still dozens of local museums without the resources needed to bring in new shows and excite public interest,” says Daniel Weary, co-trustee of the Turner Charitable Trust. “We’re pleased to fund Mid-America Art Alliance’s vision through the Courtney S. Turner Exhibition Initiative. It will bring dynamic exhibitions to museums with the greatest need and the greatest opportunity to reach new audiences.”

Mid-America will invite staff from local venues to visit Mid-America’s exhibition preparation space and learn more about ExhibitsUSA and the Courtney S. Turner Exhibition Initiative. Mid-America staff members will also conduct site visits and work with interested institutions to match exhibitions with each organization’s mission and schedule.

Recently, two ExhibitsUSA exhibitions appearing in Kansas City received warm reviews, El ojo fino/The Exquisite Eye, displayed at Mattie Rhodes Art Gallery May 15–June 20, and In Citizen’s Garb: Southern Plains Native Americans, 1889–1891 earlier this year at the Kansas City Public Library.

“Ultimately, we hope the Courtney S. Turner Exhibition Initiative will expand on the successes area museums have experienced with our exhibitions,” Mary Kennedy McCabe, Mid-America Arts Alliance Executive Director said.

Mid-America Arts Alliance, the nation’s oldest regional arts organization, was founded in 1972 to foster cultural growth in heartland communities. Today, Mid-America primarily serves communities throughout Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, though it also develops and delivers arts and humanities programs for a national audience. Mid-America programs attract upwards of one million people annually in more than 300 communities.

For more information, please visit www.maaa.org, or contact Andy Graham at andrew@maaa.org, 816-421-1388.

###