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  1. Home
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  3. State Profiles

Pennsylvania

Facts and Figures

In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $25,543,605 in federal funding, either directly or through state and regional partners, in Pennsylvania.

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, Pennsylvania…

  • Added 3.1 percent or $30.4 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
  • Employed 189,700 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling $14.6 billion

More than 38 percent of Pennsylvania’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while 18 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 past five years:

The Blue Star Museums program provided free admission to thousands of active military personnel and their families at 222 participating museums in Pennsylvania.

More than 4,978 students from 340 high schools in Pennsylvania participated in Poetry Out Loud.

The NEA Big Read program generated community events focused on reading outstanding American literature and involving more than 7,703 adults and students in Pennsylvania. 


Pennsylvania Fact Sheet

On this page, find information on the arts and culture for Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania, go to our Recent Grant Search. 

State Highlights

A brightly colored mural on a Philadelphia city wall
Mural Arts Philadelphia
A look at the programs of Mural Arts Philadelphia: part city agency, part nonprofit, and longtime NEA grantee.
Read Magazine Article
A woman sitted at a loom.
Em Bun
1990
1990 National Heritage Fellow Em Bun was recognized as a master Cambodian silk weaver in her Pennsylvanian community.
Go to profile
Portrait of Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath
2003
2003 NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath is one of the great tenor saxophonists, composers, and band leaders in his more than 70 years in jazz.
Go to profile

State & Regional Contacts

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts 
Finance Building, Room 216A
Harrisburg, PA 17120
717/787-6883
TT/Relay: 800/654-5984

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (Regional Arts Organization)
201 North Charles Street, #401
Baltimore, MD 21202
410/539-6656
TT: 410/539-4241
maaf@midatlanticarts.org 

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