Charlotte Street Foundation launches program for arts, culture startups

The Kansas City-based Charlotte Street Foundation is launching a program to support emerging arts and culture startups in the area.

The foundation’s “Startup Residency” program will offer its participants 12 months of free storefront space at Charlotte Street’s Project Space in downtown Kansas City, professional development training, mentoring and marketing opportunities.

“We noticed that a number of ‘startup-like’ efforts were coming up through the Charlotte Street Foundation programming — the studio residency, the venues, and Rocket Grants specifically, but none of those opportunities were really designed to launch a new artist-run entity,” Charlotte Street executive director Amy Kligman said in a release. “Our interest in this is to see startups emerge and become established pieces of Kansas City’s cultural map, contributing to the overall excitement and diversity in our city’s arts ecology.”

Those interested in participating must apply by Feb. 6. The foundation is looking for “artist-run or artist-centric” organizations less than three-years old. The 12-month residency begins March 6 in downtown Kansas City.

Since 1997, Charlotte Street has distributed over $1.1 million in awards and grants to artists and their projects in the Kansas City area. To learn more, visit www.charlottestreet.org