Artist INC – which delivers entrepreneurship and career training to the region’s artists – has spun out of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Innovation Center.

Going forward, ARTIST Inc will be under the umbrella of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, a KC-based nonprofit that supports arts programs in six states.

Artist INC is now housed in M-AAA’s offices at 2018 Baltimore. The move should help Artist INC reach even more artists in a larger area.

“We’re proud of the programming and the momentum that Artist INC has built first here in Kansas City and now regionally,” said Carmen DeHart, the UMKC Innovation Center’s director of outreach programs. “It’s made a real difference, helping our artists build sustainable and rewarding careers—and even businesses.”

Artist INC’s programming includes an eight-week course for emerging and mid-career artists, along with two-day seminars of specific topics and “What Works” programs highlighting good examples from other artist-entrepreneurs.

And Artist INC helps artists outside the KC metro, too. It has offered programs in Arkansas, Omaha, Tulsa, Austin and Houston.

In addition to support from the UMKC Innovation Center, Artist INC (originally known as KCArtistLink) has received help from ArtsKC, the Charlotte Street Foundation, LINC, the Kauffman Foundation, the Missouri Arts Council and several others.

“Spinoffs—whether you’re talking about startups or the organizations that support them—are an important part of any successful entrepreneurship ecosystem,” says Maria Meyers, vice provost of economic development at UMKC and executive director of the UMKC Innovation Center.

“Artist INC has spent the past 10 years testing its market, refining its products, and proving its sustainability and vital importance to local and regional artists. Now, with the M-AAA, it enters a new era and a renewed promise of big market opportunities for artists nationwide.”