Group of teens in recording studio laughing.

Initiatives

The National Endowment for the Arts works with other federal agencies, state and local governments, state and regional arts agencies, and private nonprofits on projects that provide opportunities for thousands of Americans to experience quality arts programming throughout the country.

Musical Theater Songwriting Competition Returns this Fall

The 2023-2024 program will include even more opportunities for high school students to develop and showcase musical compositions that could be part of a musical theater production.
Learn More
female student sits at piano with two men looking at sheet music with her

2019 Songwriting Challenge winner Sophia Schwaner at the piano with her music director Benjamin Rauhala (left) and mentor Max Vernon working on her song "At Sea." Photo by Christy McKee.

A photo that looks down the aisle of shelves in a bookstore

NEA Big Read

The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our neighbors, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience. Managed by Arts Midwest, this initiative offers grants to support innovative community reading programs designed around a single book.
Arms and hands of people working on a pottery wheel

Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network

Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and the state and local arts agencies that seeks to improve the health, wellness, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.
A young woman with glasses and two long braids speaks into a microphone

Poetry Out Loud

A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and the state arts agencies, the Poetry Out Loud program encourages high school students to memorize and perform great poems.
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Arts & Human Development Task Force

Beginning in 2011, the Arts Endowment convened a Federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development to encourage more and better research on how the arts can help people reach their full potential at all stages of life
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Arts Education Partnership

The Arts Education Partnership, a collaboration among the Arts Endowment, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Education Commission of the States as well as all AEP partner organizations, convenes forums to discuss topics in arts education, publishes research materials supporting the role of arts education in schools, and acts as a clearinghouse for arts education resource material.
Columbian mammoth skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History

Blue Star Museums

Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and museums across America, offering free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve.
Artist rendering of a new main street intersection in a rural town

Citizens' Institute on Rural Design

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Housing Assistance Council and buildingcommunityWORKSHOP.
Alexander Calder's monumental orange sculpture Flamingo in the urban plaza

GSA's Art in Architecture

The National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. General Services Administration are collaborating to increase awareness of GSA’s Art in Architecture program and to promote federal art commission opportunities for artists that reflect the diversity of communities across the nation.
Two men and one woman filmmakers setting up an indoor camera shoot

Independent Film & Media Arts Field-Building Initiative  

The Independent Film & Media Arts Field-Building Initiative is a collaborative partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) focused on creating a space for knowledge exchange and relationship-building, with an emphasis on promoting regional networks, equity, and career sustainability for individuals working in the film and media arts industry.
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International

Through cooperative initiatives with other funders, the National Endowment for the Arts brings the benefit of international exchange to arts organizations, artists, and audiences nationwide.
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Mayors' Institute on City Design

A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design convenes mayors and design experts to solve the most critical planning and design challenges facing their cities.
Image of ear buds with text reading National Endowment for the Arts and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge

Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge

The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is a national contest that began in 2016 as a way to nurture the next generation of songwriters across a wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musicals.
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NEA Research Labs

The National Endowment for the Arts Research Labs (NEA Research Labs) program will yield empirical insights about the arts for the benefit of arts and non-arts sectors alike.
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Save America's Treasures

Established in 1999, The Save America’s Treasures program, a partnership between the National Park Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the NEA, helps preserve nationally significant historic properties and collections.
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Shakespeare in American Communities

Shakespeare in American Communities is a program to bring professional theater companies to middle and high schools throughout the country to perform Shakespeare’s plays and conduct educational activities. The National Endowment for the Arts presents the program in partnership with Arts Midwest.
An older man playing a guitar next to a woman singing

Sound Health Network

The Sound Health Network (SNH) is partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts with the University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Renée Fleming, the center’s artistic advisor. The SHN was established to promote research and public awareness about the impact of music on health and wellness.
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United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture

In September 2022, President Biden hosted the United We Stand Summit at the White House to counter the destructive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety, mobilize diverse sectors of society and communities across the country to these dangers, and put forward a shared, inclusive, bipartisan vision for a more united America.
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Women's Suffrage Centennial

The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to be participating in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and women’s constitutional right to vote.