Arts Midwest

“The organization contracts with cliftonlarsonallen, llp, an accounting firm, to provide financial management services. During fy 2020, the organization paid $67,787 for these services.”

“The members of the organization are non-voting and consist of those interested in the goals and purposes of the corporation. Membership is attained upon application.”

“A detailed review was conducted by the organization's president & CEO and by the treasurer. The finance committee conducted a final review and approval of the return prior to filing. A draft was also distributed to the full board prior to filing.”

“Each director, officer, key employee and member of a committee with board delegated powers shall complete and sign a conflicts of interest policy annual statement at the time of his or her initial election or appointment and annually thereafter. An interested person may make a presentation at the board or committee meeting regarding the proposed transaction or arrangement, but after such presentation, there interested person shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the proposed transaction or arrangement that results in the conflict of interest. Additionally (1) the chairperson of the board (or committee) shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement (2) after exercising due diligence, the board (or committee) shall determine whether the organization can obtain a more advantageous transaction or arrangement with reasonable efforts from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest (3) if a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonable attainable under the circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board (or committee) shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors (or committee members), whether the transaction or arrangement is in the organization's best interest and for its own benefit and whether the transaction is fair and reasonable to the organization and shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement in conformity with such determination. Detailed minutes of board or committee meetings are maintained to document all such situations.”

“The executive committee sets compensation for the president & CEO. The Executive committee uses the following procedures to set the compensation Of the president & CEO (1) for the purpose of setting the president & CEOs compensation, the executive committee shall be made up entirely of Individuals who do not have a conflict of interest with respect to the Compensation arrangement (2) the executive committee obtains and relies Upon appropriate data as to comparability prior to making its Determination regarding the compensation of the president & CEO. Appropriate comparability data includes compensation levels paid by Organizations of similar size and complexity nationally, regionally and Locally, and current compensation surveys. Detailed documents are Maintained of all deliberations and decisions. The process of Determining the compensation of the president & CEO last included review And approval by independent persons, comparability data and Contemporaneous substantiation in 2018. The executive committee Delegates to the president & CEO the authority to set compensation for other executives.”

“The organization does not make its governing documents or conflict of interest policy available to the public. The organizations financial statements are made available to the public through the Minnesota Attorney Generals office.”

“(Continuation from Part III) Arts Midwest works collaboratively with private and public arts supporters throughout Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. We believe that creativity has the power to inspire and unite humanity and we nurture through programs that gather, invest, and grow communities and organizations across the Midwest.”

“(Continuation from Part III) Arts Midwest Touring Fund engages Midwestern audiences in meaningful experiences with multicultural performing artists from across the Midwest, the nation, and the world through fee support grants to performing arts presenters in our region. Through the 20192020 cycle, we awarded more than $345,000 to 168 organizations across the Midwest. These organizations reached more than 71,000 adults and 60,000 children through their Touring Fund-supported programming. Arts Midwest World Fest connects small and mid-sized Midwestern communities to world cultures through week-long residencies with global performers. In 20192020, we toured Hikaru of Japan, Paulo Padilha e Bando of Brazil, and Okaidja Afroso, who shares the music of Ghana, to Carbondale, IL; Rushville, IN; Ames, IA; Ironwood, MI; Fairmont, MN; Williston, ND; Bellefontaine, OH; Huron, SD; and Menomonie, WI. The ensembles conducted public concerts, school workshops, and community activities, and reached more thatn 24,000 people. The Arts Midwest Conference is the preeminent booking and education conference for the Midwest performing arts industry. The 32nd annual Conference took place in Minneaplolis, Minnesota, from September 4-9, 2019. The Conference welcomed 1,226 artists, artist managers/agents, performing arts presenters, and arts administrators, representing 48 U.S. states and territories and eight foreign countries. Arts Midwest manages Shakespeare in American Communities on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts. During the 20192020 program cycle, we made $1 million in grants to 40 nonprofit, professional theater companies from 25 states and the District of Columbia to present productions of Shakespeare plays and related educational activities to middle and high school students. In addition, Arts Midwest made seven grants to organizations providing Shakespheare programming for young people in the U.S. criminal justice system. We the Many is a pilot program that seeks to expand the understanding of what it means to be a Midwesterner through the creative exchange of voices, cultures, and ideas. The program is supporting virtual performing arts residencies with Midwestern artists in 2020-2021 in Wabash, IN; Perry, IA; and Sisseton, SD. NEA Performing Arts Discovery builds and sustains international arts networks and highlights the diversity of the U.S. performing arts market, with a goal of expanding the global opportunities for performing artists from across the United States. In 2019, 14 arts presenters from Brazil, Chile, China, Mexico, and Sweden attended the Arts Midwest Conference and a forum that explored the arts market in Minneapolis and St. Paul.”

“(Continuation from Part III) In 2019-2020, our national initiative Creating Connection continued to offer trainings and toolkits to arts organizations focused on communicating the value of the arts and creativity in our communities.”