Three elderly Black men in suits playing drums, bass, and sax on stage with purple background.

2022 NEA Jazz Masters Stanley Clarke, Billy Hart, and Donald Harrison, Jr. playing Ellington's "Take the Coltrane" at the tribute concert at SFJAZZ. See the full concert at arts.gov/honors/jazz. Photo by Scott Chernis

Black woman in black dress singing in front of a band on stage with a huge colorful banner behind them.

Host Dianne Reeves (and 2018 NEA Jazz Master) performs at the 2022 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert at SFJAZZ in San Francisco, California. See the full concert at arts.gov/honors/jazz. Photo by Scott Chernis

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

Man playing piano on stage, laughing.

NEA Jazz Master Eddie Palmieri performing at the 2018 NEA Jazz Master Tribute Concert in Washington, DC. Photo by Shannon Finney

Man playing vibes and man playing piano on stage.

NEA Jazz Masters Bobby Hutcherson and Kenny Barron performing at the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert. Photo by Michael G. Stewart

Man playing drums at White House.

2004 NEA Jazz Master Chico Hamilton performs as part of A Salute to NEA Jazz Masters, a White House concert in celebration of Black Music Month in 2004. Photo by Vance Jacobs

Mia Ronn reciting during 2022 Poetry Out Loud National Finals

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

Students stand in a line on stage.

POL state champions in the second regional semi-final come on stage to accept their awards.

Teenage boy on stage reciting poetry.

2011 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Youssef Biaz from Alabama. Photo by James Kegley

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Regina Carter

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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.