Art Works Blog

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#WisdomWednesday with Poet Mary Oliver

June 5, 2019
Poet Mary Oliver's profound wisdom came from a deep connection with nature, and with her boundless capacity for simply paying attention. The questions she asked were large, yet the answers she suggested were (deceptively) simple. Pay attention, she urged. Wisdom is all around us—if we're willing to...
quote by Ivan Jaigirdar

#TuesdayThought: Ivan Jaigirdar of 3rd I Films

June 4, 2019
"I think film is a vehicle to get us into relationships with each other in terms of understanding each other's communities. I think that's really important in this day and age of more and more isolation." — Ivan Jaigirdar Read our interview with 3rd I Films founder Ivan Jaigirdar here .
author photo of Matt Reeck

It's All About the Books with NEA Literature Translation Fellow Matt Reeck

May 31, 2019
Matt Reeck received a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Translation Fellowship in 2013. A widely published poet, he is also one of the editors of the literary magazine Staging Ground and has received fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the American Institute of Indian Studies, and...
The inside of a paint box

Spring Grant Spotlight: Healing Cherokee Foster Children through the Arts

May 30, 2019
As in many Native cultures, the Cherokee community often uses the terms “uncle” and “aunty” when talking to any elder, blood-related or not. It symbolizes that tribe represents a family larger than one’s biological relatives, and that whoever you are, or whatever your circumstances, you always have...
an ensemble of dancers some of whom are in wheelchairs performing on stage

Celebrating 40 Years of Promoting Accessibility in the Arts

May 29, 2019
“Disabled people have only in recent years gained access to the arts, and even today that access is extremely limited in many cultural institutions. The arts are vital to a sense of cultural belonging, to social cohesion, to a sense of the possibilities in the world. But access to the arts is only...
quote by Julie Otsuka

#TuesdayThought: Julie Otsuka

May 28, 2019
"I transitioned to writing after failing as a painter, and I do recommend failure. I think it's a very good experience for anyone to go through." — Julie Otsuka Learn more about author Julie Otsuka—author of the NEA Big Read title When the Emperor Was Divine —and the other writers who are part of...
a family including a man in uniform watching a demonstration at an art museum

Celebrate the 10th Summer of Blue Star Museums!

May 24, 2019
On Armed Forces Day (May 18th), one of my favorite programs at the National Endowment for the Arts began—Blue Star Museums. Now through Labor Day, more than 2,000 museums across the country will welcome active duty military personnel and their families free of charge. Since the National Endowment...
quote by Porochista Khakpour

#ThursdayThought: NEA Creative Writing Fellow Porochista Khakpour

May 23, 2019
"But literature, I discovered, can also save you. Truly. Over the cliché and through the truth, it can save." — Porochista Khakpour, NEA Creative Writing Fellow
High school students sit around a table while one student stands and speaks

Spring Grant Spotlight: Deep Center

May 22, 2019
“When Savannah tells the story of young people, it tells the wrong story; it's almost always about crime and gun violence,” said Dare Dukes, executive director of Deep Center , a creative writing and arts center in Savannah, Georgia, that recently received one of 1,114 new NEA grants . This story,...
collage of photos of 2020 NEA Jazz Masters

Congratulations to the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters!

May 21, 2019
“The 2020 NEA Jazz Masters have made an incredible impact on jazz, whether it’s through their artistic work to expand the musical boundaries of the genre, their educational contributions, or their efforts to reach new audiences for jazz. The National Endowment for the Arts is excited to celebrate...

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