Artrain began in 1971 as a project of the "Michigan Council for the Arts", and initially toured Michigan, visiting small towns that did not have their own museums. Throughout the summer of 1971 Michigan Artrain toured across the state of Michigan with over 191,000 visitors in 28 Michigan communities visiting the train’s vintage baggage car converted to a studio car where 2 resident artists that travelled with the train demonstrated and explained the many different types of art processes and mediums. Soon after, thanks to popular demand, a separate foundation was set up, and the tour area was broadened to the entire United States with the help of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The first tour beyond Michigan commenced in 1973. Since then, it has hosted 15 or more different exhibitions. Funding of about US$1.5 million annually is through private donations and government grants. In addition, significant in-kind support from the railways it travels over helped reduce funding needs. The name was changed to "Artrain USA" in 1999 to reflect the national mission.