The mission of AtA is to support artists and the arts community in the Kansas City area and to enrich architectural practices and architect-client relationships by providing architects and clients with incentives and tools to collect, commission, place, and integrate artwork by Kansas City artists into their processes and projects.

Architectural projects may achieve Gold, Silver or Bronze levels of Art Achievement by dedicating a certain percentage of the total construction budget to any or all of the following:

• Collecting artworks — purchasing existing works by eligible Kansas City artists from area galleries or directly from the artists themselves;
• Commissioning new temporary or permanent artworks — contracting an eligible artist to create new or site-specific work for an interior or exterior space;
•  Including artists on design teams — contracting an eligible artist to serve as a creative collaborator with the architect, client, and others involved in the architectural project, not necessarily to manifest in “artwork” per se.
• Note, these categories have been developed in order to help architects and their clients find appropriate artists for different types of projects. Artists have been selected for eligibility in one or more of these categories based on their work, experience and interests. Depending on the specific needs of a given project and the interests of the architect and client, Art Achievement may be accomplished through any or all these methods.