What Is the NEA?
Photo by R. Philip Hanes, Jr.
Overview
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), established in Congress in 1965, is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States.
The NEA is the only arts funder in the United States—public or private—that provides access to the arts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. jurisdictions. Our work extends into communities of all sizes across America through a vast network that includes artists, arts workers, audiences, learners, and organizations at the local, state-wide, regional, and national levels.
Funding Opportunities
The NEA’s principal grant category is Grants for Arts Projects, which supports arts projects of all sizes in a wide variety of artistic disciplines. Under Grants for Arts Projects, organizations can also apply for Challenge America grants for projects reaching underserved groups/communities; and Our Town creative placemaking grants that integrate arts, culture, and design in efforts to advance local economic, physical, and other community-desired outcomes. The NEA’s Partnership Agreements fund the state and jurisdictional arts agencies and regional arts organizations.
The NEA offers two funding opportunities in research: Research Grants in the Arts funds research that investigates the value and impact of the arts, and NEA Research Labs funds transdisciplinary research teams grounded in social and behavioral sciences.
Lifetime Honors
The NEA presents two lifetime achievement awards: NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships, the nation’s highest honor in jazz, and National Heritage Fellowships, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. In addition, the NEA solicits nominations from the public for the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government and presented by the President.
Partnerships and Initiatives
The NEA works with other federal agencies, state and local governments, state arts agencies and regional arts organizations, and private nonprofits on initiatives that provide opportunities for thousands of Americans to experience quality arts programming throughout the country. Examples include:
- Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network—A partnership with the Department of War and Department of Veterans Affairs, this initiative seeks to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers. The program places creative arts therapies at the core of patient-centered care at clinical sites throughout the country, including telehealth services. In addition, it increases access to community arts activities through grants to support emerging and established non-clinical arts engagement projects.
- Poetry Out Loud (POL)—This national arts education program encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. A partnership with state and jurisdictional arts agencies and managed by Mid Atlantic Arts, POL helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.
- Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD)—With a belief in the power of city design to transform communities, MICD brings together mayors and community design experts to solve the most critical planning and design challenges facing their cities. This program is a partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
You can find more information on this programming on the Initiatives page.
Research
Research into the value and impact of the arts is a core function of the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA’s online research hub, the National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center, provides the public with frequently updated statistics on the health and vitality of the arts in the U.S., tracking key measures related to artists and other cultural workers. The NEA also produces in-depth reports on a wide variety of research topics related to the arts, including arts participation, the economic impact of arts and culture, and arts and health, such as Arts Strategies for Addressing the Opioid Crisis.
Publications About the NEA
These publications provide a good overview of the agency’s work since its beginnings in 1965.
Annual Reports, 1965 to present
Provide a look at NEA activities in each fiscal year of the agency's history.
National Endowment for the Arts: A History 1965-2008
This publication documents the agency's major activities since its creation by the U.S. Congress in 1965. Also included are overviews of the agency's impact on dance, literature, media arts, museums, music, opera, theater, and visual arts. 2009
A Legacy of Leadership: Investing in America's Living Cultural Heritage Since 1965
Celebrating the NEA's 35th anniversary, this publication highlights more than 50 important NEA-funded projects that made a lasting difference to communities, individuals, and organizations. 2000
National Endowment for the Arts, 1965-2000: A Brief Chronology of Federal Support for the Arts
A thumbnail history of the first 35 years of the federal government's support for the arts and the achievements of the NEA since its inception. 2000
Timeline of NEA Highlights
Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts awards thousands of grants to organizations and individuals throughout the nation. We created this timeline to feature some of the stellar projects and artists the NEA has supported over the last 50+ years. Find a year in any decade and read about a project, arts organization, or artist that we supported that year.
Milestone Videos
In 2015, for the 50th anniversary of the NEA, the agency produced a series of milestone videos that highlighted some of the artists, arts organizations, and arts programs that the NEA has supported over its history.
American Film Institute
Applalshop
Maya Lin
National Council for the Traditional Arts
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Sundance Institute
Edward Villella
Walker Art Center
A Look at Arts Education
Creative Forces
NEA Literature Fellowships
NEA Chairs
Roger Stevens (1965-69)
Nancy Hanks (1969-77)
Livingston Biddle (1977-81)
Frank Hodsoll (1981-89)
John Frohnmayer (1989-92)
Jane Alexander (1993-97)
Bill Ivey (1998-2001)
Michael Hammond (2002)
Dana Gioia (2003-09)
Rocco Landesman (2009-12)
Jane Chu (2014-18)
Mary Anne Carter (2019-21)
Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD (2021-25)
Mary Anne Carter (2025-)