Convenings
Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities
Co-hosted by the White House Domestic Policy Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, “Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities” took place on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, and explored how the arts can contribute to health and well-being, animate and strengthen physical spaces, fuel our democracy, and drive equitable outcomes for communities across the country. This first-of-its-kind national convening brought together leaders from across sectors, including government officials; policymakers; artists; arts advocates; academics; philanthropic, labor, and community leaders; and the public. Together we considered the ideas, policies, and actions we can take to better integrate and elevate the arts and humanities throughout our country.
Americas Cultural Summit
Americas Cultural Summit 2021, co-hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies. was held virtually November 1-4, 2021. Focusing on the summit theme “Towards a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future,” this international exchange of art, information, and ideas brought together leaders representing public arts agencies and cultural ministries from across the Americas, along with artists, policy makers, and innovators. Video archives of the summit sessions are now available in English and Spanish.
Creative Placemaking
Beyond the Building: Performing Arts and Transforming Place
On November 3, 2014, the Arts Endowment hosted this convening to develop a better understanding of how performance-based organizations, and the artists they engage, transform places through their artistic practices.
Design
Designing Equity
On May 9, 2016, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Surdna Foundation co-hosted this convening to address the role that design can play in building more equitable and just communities.
Folk and Traditional Arts
Close Listening: A National Case for the Value & Impact of Folk & Traditional Arts
In the fall of 2018, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies co-hosted Close Listening, a convening to address the value and impact of Folk & Traditional Arts.
Media Arts
Documentary Sustainability Summit
In partnership with the International Documentary Association, the National Endowment for the Arts hosted a one-day Sustainability Summit featuring 80 filmmakers, producers, distributors, film festival representatives, funders, and other stakeholders in the nonfiction storytelling community, as well as leaders from the federal, state, and local governments.
Research
National gatherings with researchers and arts and community experts.
Measuring Cultural Engagement Amid Confounding Variables: A Reality Check
The Arts, New Growth Theory, and Economic Development
Future of the City: The Role of the Arts in Building Communities
NEA Cultural Workforce Forum Webcast
Preview of Three New SPPA Reports February 24, 2011
Theater
Envisioning the Future of Theater for Young Audiences
In partnership with service orgs TYA/USA and Theatre Communications Group, the National Endowment for the Arts brought together theater for young audiences leaders and practitioners from around the country in early June 2019 for a one-day convening in Miami, Florida, entitled “Envisioning the Future of Theater for Young Audiences.” Over the course of the day, compelling research from the field was shared, new connections were made, and presentations from a diverse group of TYA leaders brought the challenges and opportunities in the field into stark focus for all involved.