Woman with long brown hair playing drums.

2021 NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington during the virtual tribute concert in 2021. Video image courtesy of Elephant Quilt

Asian women on scaffolding in front of mural she is painting.

Multidisciplinary artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya working on a mural in Washington, DC. Photo by Will Martinez

Woman with long dark hair wearing sunglasses dancing on a box with long orange scarf near a field of produce.

Vanessa Sanchez, executive artistic director of La Mezcla, performing on a farm as part of Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS) Farmworker Friday. Photo Courtesy of ALAS

Native woman with glasses weaving on a loom.

Navajo/Diné textile artist and weaver TahNibaa Naataanii of New Mexico is the 2022 Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellow. Photo courtesy of the artist

Mia Ronn reciting during 2022 Poetry Out Loud National Finals

2022 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Mia Ronn. Photo by 5:00 Films & Media

What’s Happening at the NEA

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson

National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson on Celebrating Women's History Month

National Endowment for the Arts logo

National Council on the Arts March 2023 Public Meeting


10:00 am ~ 11:30 am ET
at NMAAHC, Oprah Winfrey Theater

NEA Jazz Masters collage with picture of Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, Sue Mingus, and Louis Hayes

2023 NEA Jazz Masters Honored at Free Events

Tribute concert on April 1, 2023, at the Kennedy Center and livestreamed!

Featured News

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National Medal of the Arts w/ purple ribbon

President Biden to Award National Medals of Arts

Logo of red lines for ACPSA

New Data Show Economic Activity of the U.S. Arts & Cultural Sector in 2021

Some Industry Gains Amid the Ongoing Impact of COVID-19

A collage of photos showing the nine 2023 NEA National Heritage Fellows

National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2023 NEA National Heritage Fellows

Featured Stories

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Headshot of a man.
Blog

State of the Arts: Folk & Traditional Arts

A woman playing a violin.
Podcast

Regina Carter

Violinist and 2023 NEA Jazz Master
Woman with long braided hair and purple flower over her ear dancing on stage with a long orange scarf
Magazine Article

Dancing Outside the Box

Vanessa Sanchez y La Mezcla

Grants

The National Endowment for the Arts awards grants to nonprofit organizations, creative writers and translators, state arts agencies, and regional arts organizations in support of arts projects across the country.
Go to the Grants section »

Impact

See the impact of the Arts Endowment on your state, and how the agency's work in research, accessibility, and other areas has had a major impact in the arts and culture of the country.
Go to the Impact section »

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.
Approximately 2,300 Grants

Recommended for grant awards annually in all 50 states, DC, and U.S. territories.

More than 60 Percent

Percentage of Arts Endowment grants that go to small and medium-sized organizations (budgets up to $2 million).

35 Percent

Percentage of Arts Endowment grants reach low-income audiences or underserved populations.

Some Facts from the National Endowment for the Arts

These facts are based on the most recent data (2020) from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), which is produced jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Office of Research & Analysis and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Commerce Department. The ACPSA tracks the annual economic impact of arts and cultural production from 35 industries, both commercial and nonprofit.
$876.7 billion

Amount the arts and cultural industries contribute to the U.S. economy.

4.2 Percent

Percentage of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product is accounted for by arts and cultural industries.

4.6 Million

Americans work in the arts and cultural industries on payroll.

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.
54 Cents

The Arts Endowment’s annual cost to each American.

0.003 Percent

The Arts Endowment’s percentage of the federal budget.

$5.6 Billion

Amount awarded by the Arts Endowment since its beginning in 1965.

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.
Around 41 Million Americans

Attend a live arts event supported by the Arts Endowment annually.

More than 36,000

Concerts, readings, and performances are supported annually.

More than 6,000

Exhibitions are supported annually as well.

Some Facts from the National Endowment for the Arts

These facts are based on the most recent data (2017) from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), a national survey conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau that has allowed cultural policymakers, arts managers, scholars, and journalists to obtain reliable statistics about American patterns of arts engagement.
North Dakota

The state's residents attend live performing arts events at a higher rate than U.S. adults as a whole—with 62 percent for North Dakota residents versus 48.5 percent of U.S. adults.

Montana

Outperforms the national rate of attending art exhibits, with 33.5 percent of this state’s residents doing this activity versus 23 percent of Americans overall.

Oregon and Washington

Their literary reading rates (upwards of 60 percent) far exceed the U.S. as a whole (44 percent).

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.
Approximately $8 million

Amount of funding of arts education projects annually.

74.7 Percent

Arts education projects (preK-12) that directly engage with underserved populations.

3 Times More Likely

8- to. 12-grade students from low socioeconomic backgrounds who received arts education to earn a bachelor's degree than those who did not.