In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $10,874,104 in federal funding, either directly or through state and regional partners, in Kentucky.

In the most recent information (2020) 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, Kentucky...

• Added 2.6 percent or $5.6 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
• Employed 46,652 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling more than $2.8 billion

Almost 39 percent of Kentucky’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while more than 14 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:

Blue Star Museums program provided free admission to thousands of active military personnel and their families at 23 participating museums in Kentucky.

An average of more than 2,704 students from 43 high schools in Kentucky participated in Poetry Out Loud annually.

For the NEA Big Read initiative, 314 community events were held in the state involving more than 42,850 adults and students.