Kansas City Ballet | Klein Perspectives | photo, Brett Pruitt & East Market Studios
About the Missouri Arts Council
Supporting the Arts for All Missouri
The Missouri Arts Council is the state agency dedicated—as public leader, partner, and catalyst—to broadening the growth, availability, and appreciation of the arts in Missouri and fostering the diversity, vitality, and excellence of Missouri’s communities, economy, and cultural heritage. The grants we award make possible quality arts programming to communities both large and small throughout the state. We provide grants to arts projects that meet our strategic goals:
- Engage people in meaningful arts experiences
- Grow Missouri’s economy using the arts
- Strengthen Missouri education through the arts
In addition to funding, we provide technical assistance in community development, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, arts education, artistic disciplines (visual arts, music, literature, theater, dance, festivals, and film/media) and more.
We allocate funding to arts organizations based on the recommendations of volunteer advisory panels that review the applications from the organizations seeking grants. The panels consider the applicants’ artistic quality, community outreach and support, and management ability.
Established as a state agency in 1965, the Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. The Council is funded through the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Cultural Trust, and National Endowment for the Arts.
Our Commitment to Cultural Equity
A core value of the Missouri Arts Council is to celebrate Missouri’s cultural richness and diversity. All Missourians deserve to benefit from public investments in the arts. To support a full creative life for all, the Missouri Arts Council commits to championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible state.
Missouri Arts Council board, December 2018, revised June 2020
Council and Trust
The Missouri Arts Council board consists of volunteer citizens from across the state who provide direction in policy making and programmatic oversight. The board meets three times a year to review panel recommendations, develop statewide programs and initiatives, and consider arts-related issues that affect the state.
The Missouri Arts Council Trust (commonly known as the Missouri Cultural Trust), founded by the state legislature in 1993, provides a vehicle for the state to fund the Missouri Arts Council with general appropriations. The Trust also provides the matching funds for the federal money received from the National Endowment for the Arts. Subject to appropriation, the Trust is funded by the income tax on non-resident professional athletes and entertainers (A&E tax). The Trust is governed by the members of the Missouri Arts Council board and five elected officials: the State Treasurer, two members of the Missouri Senate, and two members of the Missouri House of Representatives.
Join our board
If you, or someone you know, would like to be considered for an appointment by the Governor to the Missouri Arts Council board, please complete this online form.
Council and Trust Board Members
Sharon Beshore, chair, Joplin
David J. Alexander, St. Louis
Vicky Bean, Gideon
Lois Brace, Mexico
Mark Coulter, Kansas City
Consuelo Cruz, Kansas City
John Robert Mollenkamp, Jefferson City
Chris Pieper, Columbia
Nola Ruth, Columbia
Mark Sappington, Kansas City
David Schlafly, St. Louis
Ann Scott, St. Louis
Trust Board Members
State Treasurer Vivek Malek
573-751-8533 | vivek.malek@treasurer.mo.gov
Senator John Rizzo, District 11, Kansas City
573-751-3074 | john.rizzo@senate.mo.gov
Senator Caleb Rowden, District 19, Columbia
573-751-3931 | caleb.rowden@senate.mo.gov
Representative Brenda Shields, District 11, Buchanan County and parts of Platte County
573-751-3643 | brenda.shields@house.mo.gov
Capitol Building
201 W. Capitol Ave.
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Staff
Michael Donovan
Executive Director
314-340-4740
michael.donovan@ltgov.mo.gov
Rick Duplissie
Deputy Director
314-340-7539
roderick.duplissie@ltgov.mo.gov
Julie Hale
Program Specialist
314-340-6853
julie.hale@ltgov.mo.gov
• Dance
• Literature
• Multidiscipline
• Theatre
Karon Majeel Hatchett
Community Development Specialist
314-340-6858
karon.hatchett@ltgov.mo.gov
• Arts Councils
• Creative Communities
• Creative Districts
• Creative Placemaking
Keiko C. Ishida
Program Specialist
314-340-6859
keiko.ishida@ltgov.mo.gov
• Electronic Media Arts
• Established Institutions
• Grant Guidelines, Forms, and Documentation
• Mid-Sized Arts Organizations
• Visual Arts
Barbara MacRobie
Public Information Coordinator
314-340-6852
barbara.macrobie@ltgov.mo.gov
• Website
• Featured Artists
• Social Media
• Email Communications
• News Media
Donald Rice
Program Specialist
314-340-6854
donald.rice@ltgov.mo.gov
• Express Community Touring
• Express Project
• Festivals
• Missouri Touring Performers Directory
• Music
• Organizations of Color
Jim Riordan
Accountant
314-340-6856
jim.riordan@ltgov.mo.gov
Jenni Ryan
Arts Education Specialist
314-340-6857
jenni.ryan@ltgov.mo.gov
• Arts Education Grants for PK-12 Schools and Nonprofit Organizations
- Artist in Residence
- Big Yellow School Bus
- Professional Development
- School Touring
Virginia Sanders
Special Initiatives Coordinator
314-340-6851
virginia.sanders@ltgov.mo.gov
• Accessibility/504
• Arts and Aging
• Arts and the Military
• Council and Trust Boards
• Missouri Arts Awards
• Missouri Poet Laureate
• Poetry Out Loud
Joan White
Grants Manager
314-340-6855
joan.white@ltgov.mo.gov
Missouri Folk Arts Program
The Missouri Arts Council’s folk arts program is administered under the auspices of the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri–Columbia.
Lisa Higgins
Director
573-882-6296
higginsll@missouri.edu
Deborah Bailey
Folk Arts Specialist
573-882-3653
baileyda@missouri.edu
Missouri Folk Arts Program
Museum of Art and Archaeology
520 S. 9th St.
Room 1, Ellis Library
Columbia, MO 65211