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  1. Home
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  3. State Profiles

West Virginia

Facts and Figures

In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $11,867,126 in federal funding, either directly or through state and regional partners, in West Virginia.

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, West Virginia…

  • Added 1.5 percent or $1.6 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
  • Employed 18,145 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling $1 billion

Nearly 30 percent of West Virginia’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while nearly 15 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 16 participating museums in West Virginia. 

More than 13,437 students from 162 high schools in West Virginia participated in Poetry Out Loud. 

The NEA Big Read program generated community events focused on reading outstanding American literature and involving more than 1,400 adults and students in West Virginia


West Virginia Fact Sheet

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

State Highlights

A man playing the fiddle.
NEA National Heritage Tribute Video: John Morris
Mar 08, 2021
An acclaimed fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, songwriter, and lifelong resident of Clay County, West Virginia, John Morris is the living carrier of the old-time fiddle and banjo tradition particular to his rural home county and the surrounding area.
View Video
People pack together on a porch playing fiddles and basses
Fiddling into the Future at the Augusta Heritage Center
Jun 28, 2018
Established in 1973, the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia was founded to preserve and celebrate Appalachian culture, with support from the Arts Endowment.
Read Blog
A man stting with steel dreum.
Elliott "Ellie" Mannette
1999
1999 National Heritage Fellow Elliott "Ellie" Mannette of Morgantown, West Virginia, was known as the "Father of the Modern Steel Drum."
Go to profile

State & Regional Contacts

Arts & Humanities Section 
West Virginia Division of Culture & History 
1900 Kanawha Blvd. East
Capitol Complex
Charleston, WV 25305-0300
304/558-0220
TT: 304/348-0220

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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