Five blocks of performers, with the trumpeter in the middle, drums and guitar to the right and bass and piano to the left.

2011 NEA Jazz Masters Wynton and Jason Marsalis, along with Dan Nimmer on piano and Vince Giordano on guitar and bass, perform a tribute tune for 2021 NEA Jazz Master Phil Schaap during the virtual tribute concert. Video image courtesy of Elephant Quilt

Black man in hat and shiny jacket singing into mic on stage.

2020 National Heritage Fellow William Bell from the NEA tribute video. Video image courtesy of Hypothetical Films

Chorus in purple robes on stage in front of a screen.

For more than 30 years, Minnesota’s One Voice Mixed Chorus, the largest LGBTA (the A is for allies) chorus in the nation, has been building their community by raising their voices in song. Photo by Terry Gydesen

Black woman sitting on stage playing guitar left-handed.

2018 National Heritage Fellow Barbara Lynn performing at the tribute concert. Photo by Tom Pich

Woman in orange dress singing in front of an all-women jazz orchestra

Dianne Reeves, with Sherrie Maricle and the Diva Jazz Orchestra, performs a tribute to Dee Dee Bridgewater at the 2017 NEA Jazz Master Tribute Concert. Photo by Shannon Finney

Shadows of dancers in front of a painting on stage.

A frequent recipient of Arts Endowment funding, the Mark Morris Dance Group perform Morris’ Mozart Dances. Photo © Stephanie Berger

Supporting the Arts in Your Community

The National Endowment for the Arts supports exemplary arts projects in communities nationwide through grantmaking, initiatives, partnerships, and events.
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NEA Offers Relief Funds to Help Arts & Culture Sector Recover from Pandemic

Multi-colored indoor visual projection installation taking up an entire gallery space

Register for our Tech As Art Virtual Event on June 29.

Vaccine.gov FInd COVID-19 Vaccines Near You

Find a location near you, then call or visit their website to make an appointment.

Rahele Megosha reciting

Congrats to 2021 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Rahele Megosha from South Dakota!

Men, women, and children standing together in an outdoor garden

Blue Star Museums Nationwide Offer Free Admission to Military Families, May 15-September 6, 2021

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New BEA/NEA report shows arts & culture add 4.3 percent/$919.7 billion to nation's GDP.

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General Operating Support Waivers for FY2019-2021 Grantees

An intricately painted mask in mostly shades of grey with words of inspiration and hope

Visit the Creative Forces: Healing the Invisible Wounds of War online exhibition.

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 »

Featured Stories

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three photographs showing teens playing various musical instruments
Blog

Sampling Beats and Youth Research Participants – in Real Time

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Podcast

Kaitlyn Greenidge

Novelist and 2016 NEA Literature Fellow
Man sitting in barber chair blowing a trumpet.
Magazine Article

Donald Byrd and the Art of Education

Featured News

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Collage of Photos of the 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellows

National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2021 NEA National Heritage Fellows

The nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts

Two women pose together. Behind them are stands with clothing displayed and a colorful banner on the wall

NEA Announces 61 NEA Big Read Grants for 2021-2022

Located in 28 states, nearly half are first-time Big Read grantees.

Students stand around a table with art work while a teacher holds up another piece of art work for them to see

National Endowment for Arts Announces Second Round of Grants for FY 2021

More than $88 million distributed in all states and jurisdictions.

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.
40 Percent

Percentage of Arts Endowment funding is awarded directly to the states through their state and regional agencies, reaching millions more people in thousands of communities.

$9

Amount leveraged by private and other public funds for every $1 of direct Arts Endowment funding.

$500 Million

Direct grant-matching support for Arts Endowment projects each year.

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.

43 Percent

Percentage of Arts Endowment grants take place in high-poverty neighborhoods.

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 (2019) 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.
$919.7 Billion

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

4.3 Percent

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

5.2 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.
48 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 45 Million Americans

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

More than 39,000

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.

77.6 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.