Art Works Blog

A collage of photos of different individuals with art work or performing with the text 2020 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships

Congratulations to the 2020 NEA National Heritage Fellows!

June 23, 2020
“Each year the Heritage Fellowships highlight the distinct living traditions of communities around our nation, as well as how our fellows instill a sense of pride, beauty, and cultural continuity through their art. The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to recognize these outstanding...
A man sits smiling on a porch step while a man plays guitar into a microphone while sitting behind him

Spontaneous Magic: Celebrating Roots Music with the Arhoolie Foundation

June 19, 2020
When Chris Strachwitz founded Arhoolie Records in 1960, it was clear that he had a different approach than most record producers. Rather than bring musicians into a studio and finesse songs to sonic perfection, he traveled the country seeking out the very best regional musicians he could find, from...
Maria Popova, a small white woman with curly hair. Her head is turned to the right and she's standing in front of a brick wall

#ThrowbackThursday: Talking Creativity with Maria Popova

June 18, 2020
According to her twitter profile, Maria Popova is "an interestingness curator & semi-secret geek obsessed with design, storytelling & TED." The editor of Brain Pickings —a website that covers design, music, anthropology, ecology, politics, religion, and anything and everything in between—...
black and white photo of Hadara Bar Nadav

An Intense Kind of Listening: An Art Talk with Poet and NEA Literature Fellow Hadara Bar-Nadav

June 17, 2020
When poet Hadara Bar-Nadav —whose most recent collection is The New Nudity —received a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in 2017, she said, “The NEA fellowship is a recognition that the arts are absolutely vital. It reminded me that there is a way to ask difficult questions,...
A blue screen with two rectangles showing two people video chatting with one another.

National Endowment for the Arts Funds 84 NEA Big Read Projects Nationwide

June 16, 2020
"We have become even more aware this year of the important ways the arts help us connect with others, and how they bring meaning, joy, and comfort to our lives. These 84 organizations leading NEA Big Reads will provide opportunities for deep discussion and ways to help us better understand one...
quote by Carolyn Mazloomi with quilt featuring map with Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery and outlined figures of marchers

Notable Quotable: NEA National Heritage Fellow Carolyn Mazloomi

June 12, 2020
"I really feel that the creation of artwork is spirit-guided. We as artists are endowed with something from God that propels you to create the work that you do. It’s like a little miracle." — NEA National Heritage Fellow Carolyn Mazloomi Quilter and quilting community advocate Carolyn Mazloomi...
Pictogram of graphs and charts

Taking Note: COVID-19 Arts Watch—Federal Data Update

June 11, 2020
Since our last installment on this blog in early May, federal data have begun to chart the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on the arts sector, compared with many other segments of the U.S. economy. A prime exhibit is the “Business Pulse” survey , a weekly questionnaire sent to 100,000 random...
A young woman stands on the left side of the photo holding a video camera out in front of her

National Endowment for the Arts Announces Second Round of FY20 Grants

June 10, 2020
"These [new FY20 grant...
Teenagers stand on ladders and paint a mural using paint rollers

Looking to the Healing Arts

June 9, 2020
At the National Endowment for the Arts, we strongly believe that the arts can be a powerful form of healing. Whether they're helping us recover emotionally from personal trauma, or physically as we regain strength, or whether they are helping communities heal from painful social divisions, the arts...
a photograph which highlights a box of crayons next to a child in the background

Drawing Plays an Important Part in Children's Emotional Roles

June 5, 2020
Young children are natural artists. They love to pretend, dance, sing, and create images on paper. Give a child paper and markers and that child is likely to become absorbed in the act of drawing. Drawing is a universal activity found in all cultures even when the child only has dirt and a stick to...

Pages

Subscribe to Art Works