Band of reed players dressed in army garb on a bandstand.

The U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble at Blues Alley in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own"

Woman in red dress and white shawl with hands on hips facing two older woman with red flower in their hair and white shawls over their head on stage.

Laura Virella, Luz Nicolás, and Fran Tapia in the NEA-supported production of Revoltosa (The Troublemaker) by the GALA Hispanic Theatre. Photo by Daniel Martinez, courtesy of GALA Hispanic Theatre

Black woman in black dress singing on stage.

2006 NEA National Heritage Fellow Mavis Staples performing at the concert at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Photo by Tom Pich

Two women in costume performing the traditional Indian dance Kathak.

Seibi Lee and Shefali Jain in Leela Dance Collective’s performance of Son of the Wind. Photo by Margo Moritz

Group of women playing stringed instruments on stage, the one on the left wearing a gold jacket.wearing a

2023 NEA Jazz Master Regina Carter performing with the String Queens at the Tribute Concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Photo by Jati Lindsay

Man with short hair and beard on crutches dancing on stage.

Toby MacNutt during the Dancing Queerly Festival 2019. Photo by Robyn Nicole Film

What’s Happening at the NEA

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson

Arts Outside the Bubble

Chair's introduction to new American Artscape.

National Endowment for the Arts logo

Our Town Part 2 Application Q & A

August 10, 2023
2:00 pm ~ 3:00 pm ET

cover of issue of American Artscape In Celebration of Artful Lives with photo of family making art at an outdoor table

In Celebration of Artful Lives

New issue of American Artscape, NEA's magazine, now available!

Featured News

See All News
Photos of the four honorees with text reading National Endowment for the Arts 2024 Jazz Masters

NEA Announces the 2024 Recipients of NEA Jazz Masters Honors

Three people stand in front of a brick wall painting a mural featuring an Earth and tall plants with a blue sky.

National Endowment for the Arts Funds 25 Rural Communities Through Citizens' Institute on Rural Design

A group of 6 people sit around two tables painting book covers on large pieces of posterboard

Announcing the 2023-2024 National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Communities

Featured Stories

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Collage of four photos featuring a black dancer performing onstage in an orange patterned African costume and two men behind him playing drums; a black and white photo of five black men wearing dark suits and sunglasses; a woman seated in a wheelchair instructing female dancer in a wheelchair and a woman standing beside her; a group of actors on a stage with dramatic blue lighting and projections of a woman’s face behind them
Blog

Introducing a New Toolkit on Careers in the Arts: Promoting Equity, Access, and Inclusion in the Arts for People with Disabilities

Headshot of a woman.
Podcast

Elizabeth James-Perry (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, Aquinnah)

Wampum & Fiber Artist and 2023 National Heritage Fellow
Man dressed all in blue on crutches outside.
Magazine Article

A Multitude of Possibilities

A Talk with Multidisciplinary Artist Toby MacNutt

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.