Allied Media Projects Inc.

More info about KC Spaces Fund 


In an effort to help alleviate the COVID-19 related economic strain facing our community, we have organized a Mutual Aid Fundraiser to support incubators of creativity in the Kansas City Region. DIY, artist-run, and cooperative spaces have been particularly hard hit by the recent closures of businesses, large gatherings, and public events. Our goal is to help grassroots arts & culture spaces make ends meet by offering Emergency Relief Grants up to $500. Funding priority will be given to venues/spaces which serve BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Disabled, and Immigrant Communities. The application period for relief grants will close 4/30/20.

All donations will be received by our Fiscal Sponsor Allied Media Projects  on behalf of those applying for aid.

4/12/20 UPDATE: Grants will be allocated on a rolling basis, April through June, as funding allows.
4/26/20 UPDATE: April 30th is the priority deadline for applications. Eligible applications submitted after this date will be allocated only if funding allows.

Any donation you are able to make will go a long way in aiding our creative community. When the powers that be cannot see us, much less aid us, we must support one another.


This Mutual Aid Fund is made possible by the organizers, RCMA , and Allied Media Projects.

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Questions? Find your answer below:


[ Making a Donation ]


Q: Is my donation tax-deductible?


A: Yes, this fund has been organized in partnership with a 501c3 fiscal sponsor Allied Media Projects (AMP), so your contribution is tax-deductible.



Q: What is a Mutual Aid Fund?


A: Mutual aid is a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for mutual benefit. Mutual Aid Funds can take many forms, but the basic concept involves people getting together to meet each other's needs (with a shared understanding that the systems we live under are not able to meet our needs).



Q: What do you mean by ‘Grassroots’?


A: Grassroots as in: where things begin and shoot out from; Movement led by individuals or collectives (untrained or otherwise) with whatever resources are available to them. Grassroots entities often operate without state-sanctioned credentials such as an LLC or 501c3 non-profit status (though not always).


Some words you may hear used in place of this definition of grassroots include “DIY”, “Below Board”, “Underground”, “Artist-run”, “Volunteer Run”, “Collectively Owned & Operated”.


Grassroots spaces are typically non-commercial and rely on community support in the form of monetary donations and volunteer time to stay in operation.



Q: Who is organizing this Mutual Aid Fund?


A: We are a growing ad-hoc group of artists who have been involved in DIY and artist-run spaces in the Kansas City Region for many years. We have come together to meet the emergent needs of our peers and extended community. Current organizers include:


Caitlin Horsmon (STRAY CAT FILM CENTER)

Jordan Carr (ODDITIES PRINTS)

Kendell Harbin (RCMA)

Megan Pobywajlo (ARCHIVE COLLECTIVE)



[Applying for Aid]


Q: Is there an application deadline?


A: The priority application period closes April 30th, 2020. You can apply on the KC Spaces Fund website 



Q: Who can apply for this emergency aid grant?


A: Grassroots Arts & Culture spaces/venues struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Examples of such spaces include (but are not limited to):


Artist-run spaces/galleries

Live/Work performance/exhibition venues

DIY music venues

DIY maker spaces

Community-led dance centers

Community-led media labs

Community-led wellness spaces


The grant is unrestricted, meaning it can be used to pay for whatever is needed: rent, utilities, compensation for canceled events, basic supplies, etc.



Q: What locations are eligible for this ‘Kansas City Region’ specific grant?


A: Any venue whose physical address includes the following designation:


Kansas City, MO

Kansas City, KS

North Kansas City, MO

Lawrence, KS



Q: How are applications reviewed?


A: In order to meet the changing needs of our community, we will now be allocating grants on a rolling basis, April-June, as funding allows. The sooner you apply, the sooner you may receive a grant. (4/12/20 UPDATE) 

Before any application is approved for financial relief, we first evaluate your declaration of need. We have 2 levels of priority with which we will assess need:


Level - 1 : Spaces/venues operated by/for folks who have historically been disproportionately affected by economic inequality; BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of color), Immigrants, Disabled people, and LGBTQ+ identified individuals.


Level - 2 : All other Space/venues


Once we have determined your priority level, all applications within that level will be reviewed on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please keep in mind that there is no guarantee we can meet the funding requests made by all spaces/venues that apply.



Q: How are these funds distributed?


A: Grants are distributed by our fiscal sponsor, Allied Media Projects (AMP). Payment can be made via check, electronic bank payment, or PayPal, whichever is preferred. Note: checks take 10+ days to process.


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For answers to any questions not addressed here, please email [email redacted]

Support Survived & Punished, an all-volunteer grassroots coalition working to realize their vision of freedom for criminalized and incarcerated survivors and our communities.

The deep wounds and daily acts of gender based violence have once again gained national attention. This has forced to the table issues and questions that have long been raised by survivors, asking us all to take seriously patriarchy, sexism and the extensive violence that many people, largely women and trans people, experience daily.

What is sometimes missing from anti-violence work is an attention to how race, class, ability, and documentation status impact our valuing of survivors and the work to end the violence they experience, and on any given survivors ability to get safe, to heal and to stop the violence.

Even less attention is paid to how the reliance on policing and incarceration as the main response to gender based violence has only served to further oppress survivors and their communities, and has done little to heal the wounds, stop the violence, and address the underlying forces of patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism.

This is one of many reasons to support Survived and Punished.

"The Survived And Punished Project demands the immediate release of survivors of domestic and sexual violence and other forms of gender violence who are imprisoned for survival actions, including: self-defense, “failure to protect,” migration, removing children from abusive people, being coerced into acting as an "accomplice," and securing resources needed to live. Furthermore, we demand that these same survivors are swiftly reunified with their families.

Our coalition of freedom campaigns and organizations believes that policing, immigration enforcement and the prison industrial complex are violent institutions that primarily target poor communities of color. They are fundamentally racist, anti-family, anti-trans/queer, anti-woman, anti-Black, anti-Native, anti-poor and anti-immigrant. Black women are constantly policed, controlled, and dehumanized by these systems. Immigrant and refugee survivors face constant threat of detention and deportation. Native women’s high rates of incarceration are part of the colonial conditions of ongoing gender violence waged against them. Trans women, trans, & gender non-conforming people are violently profiled and targeted by police officers and prison guards. All are threatened with being separated from their children and families. Poverty, which disproportionately impacts communities of color and trans/queer communities, renders survivors even more vulnerable to all forms of violence, including police violence and imprisonment. It is in this context that self-defense and other survival actions are often criminalized."

Their work relies on grassroots donations and our support is key to keeping the work moving. Please join me in supporting the critical work of Survived and Punished.  

Note: Allied Media Projects is the fiscal sponsor for Survived and Punished. All funds raised will go to Survived and Punished

You can learn more about their work by visiting their website:

http://www.survivedandpunished.org/