Arizona

Facts and Figures

In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $15,929,711 in federal funds, either directly or through state and regional partners, in Arizona.

In the most recent information (2023) 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, Arizona...

  • Added 3 percent or $15.8 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
  • Employed 95,294 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling more than $7.3 billion

More than 39 percent of Arizona’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while more than 16 percent attended art exhibits, according to the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.

In addition to offering direct grants, the NEA supports national initiatives benefiting people across the country. Over the last five years:

The Blue Star Museums program provided free admission to thousands of active military personnel and their families at 96 participating museums in Arizona.

More than 4,252 students from 130 high schools in Arizona participated in Poetry Out Loud.

The NEA Big Read program generated community events focused on reading outstanding American literature and involving more than 8,900 adults and students in Arizona. 


Arizona Fact Sheet

On this page, find information on the arts and culture for Arizona, and how the National Endowment for the Arts has supported the arts in communities throughout the state. 

To find a list of grants awarded by the agency to Arizona, go to our Recent Grant Search. 

State Highlights

The exterior of a one story building with a colorful mural painted on one side. There are tables and chairs situated under an overhang supported by raw wood columns. The sky is filled with soft pastel pinks, blues, and yellows in what looks to be either sunrise or sunset.
Resilient Entrepreneurs
In the heart of the Navajo and Hopi Nations, where the vast expanse of rugged terrain meets the sky, Change Labs, a Native-led nonprofit, is reshaping the landscape of entrepreneurship on tribal land in Shiprock, New Mexico, and Tuba City, Arizona—providing free work spaces that support the advancement of artists, vendors, and entrepreneurs within Native communities.
Read Magazine Article
a man in Western wear holds the reins of a horse while a young girl pats the side of the horse
Grant Spotlight on the Cowboy Poetry Education Program at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum
With Challenge America grant support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona and the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce partnered with local schools to create an education program for students to learn first-hand about what cowboy poetry is and why it’s important.
Read Blog
Portrait of man in straw hat.
Jim Griffith
2011
For more than four decades, 2011 National Heritage Fellow Jim Griffith has been devoted to celebrating and honoring the folkways and religious expression found along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Go to profile

State & Regional Contacts

Arizona Commission on the Arts 
417 West Roosevelt
Phoenix, AZ 85003
602/255-5882
info@azarts.gov

Creative West (Regional Arts Organization)
1743 Wazee Street, suite 300
Denver, CO 80202
303/629-1166
wearecreativewest.org