Arizona

Facts and Figures

In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $14,504,478 in federal funds, either directly or through state and regional partners, in Arizona.

In the most recent information (2022) 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 $14.2 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
  • Employed 84,479 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling more than $7.1 billion

Almost 43 percent of Arizona’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while nearly 20 percent attended art exhibits, according to the 2017 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:

Blue Star Museums program provided free admission to thousands of active military personnel and their families at 84 participating museums in Arizona.

An average of 3,912 students from 116 high schools in Arizona participated in Poetry Out Loud annually.

The NEA Big Read initiative generated 82 community events in the state, involving more than 5,292 adults and students.


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. Below are highlights of just some of Arts Endowment grantees and artists working in Arizona. 

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

State Highlights

Drawing of a shady tree-lined area with people gathering there.
Resilience and Opportunity
With support from an NEA Our Town grant, the Fort Apache Heritage Foundation is working with a range of partners to actively reclaim the site now known as the Fort Apache and Theodore Roosevelt School National Historic Landmark for its community. They will be turning a place of loss and grief into a place of rejuvenation, reconnection, and healing.
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Portrait of woman with long dark hair wearing black-rimmed glasses and wearing a purple shirt.
Creating a Latinx Space in the American Artistic Landscape
CALA Alliance Executive Director Alana Hernandez talks about the organization's programs and engagement with the Phoenix community, differentiating between Latin American and Latinx, and the importance of emphasizing U.S. Latinx art and its contributions to American culture.
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a group of young Native men holding an enlarged photo of a group of older Native people
Being a Good Neighbor: American Rescue Plan Spotlight on the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona
Despite the challenges of the past few years, the Arts Foundation of Tucson and Southern Arizona has continued to serve its community by supporting and promoting the area's diverse arts culture.
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A display of colorful carved katsina dolls made by Hopi artists
A Culture of Survival
A look at how Hopitutuqaki, an art school that teaches traditional Hopi art forms, is faring during the pandemic.
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African-American man standing in front of his mural.
Jetsonorama
Soon after he started practicing medicine on the Navajo reservation in Arizona 27 years ago, Dr. Chip Thomas began to document reservation life with his camera. But his art became not just of the community, but for it as well. He began wheatpasting enlarged images of his photos on abandoned roadside stands, water towers, and sheds under the moniker Jetsonorama.
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Two young boys play an accordion in front of a large picture of someone playing an accordion
Spotlight on the Musical Instrument Museum
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix is launching its pilot year of the Arts Endowment-supported Parhelion Project, a collaboration with Free Arts of Arizona, to provide daylong activities for foster families.
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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.
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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.
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Man holding an instrument.
Chesley Goseyun Wilson
1989
1989 National Heritage Fellow Chesley Goseyun Wilson is a medicine man, qualified to conduct important tribal ceremonies, a singer, a dancer, and the last active member of a family of Apache violin makers descended from Amos Gustina, a seminal musician of the Western Apache people.
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collage of photos of poets Adrian Matejka and Alberto Rios with text that says National Poetry Month
Bringing Poetry to Communities: A Behind-the-Scenes Look from Two NEA Big Read Poets
We thought this would be a great time to introduce the two newest poets added to our NEA Big Read library: Adrian Matejka and Alberto Ríos. Both poets are poet laureate of their state (Matejka in Indiana and Ríos in Arizona).
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Dianne Freund
Dianne Freund
2008
Profile of 2008 NEA Creative Writing Fellowship recipient Dianne Freund, including bio, sample work, and statement on the importance of the fellowship.
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Art Talk with Gabriel Ayala
Gabriel Ayala, from the Pascua Yaqui tribe located in Tucson, Arizona, is at the forefront of a new generation of Native Americans making a career performing classical music.
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Michael Begay (second from left) working with the ETHEL String Quartet as part of the NACAP activities to bring musical education to Native-American communities. Photo courtesy of NACAP
Composing Enlightenment
A look at the Native American Composer Apprentice Project, which seeks to bring musical inspiration and education to rural Native communities, many of which don't have the resources to offer strong arts programs for their students.
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US Map
United States of Arts: Arizona
In collaboration with the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts looks at the arts and culture of Arizona as part of its celebration of the 50th anniversary of the agency's establishment.
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State & Regional Contacts

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

Western States Arts Federation (Regional Arts Organization)
1743 Wazee Street, suite 300
Denver, CO 80202
303/629-1166
staff@westaf.org