Initiatives

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Starting in 2024, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) convened a new Interagency Working Group on Arts, Health, and Civic Infrastructure (IWG-AHCI). Chaired by Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA, and Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), this group will foster exchanges of insights and information about arts and cultural resources and strategies across federal agencies, with the goal of helping to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

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.

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.

An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is opportunity for high school students to develop and showcase musical compositions that could be a part of a musical theater production.

The National Folklife Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Southwest Folklife Alliance and in collaboration with Alliance for California Traditional Arts and First Peoples Fund to advance cultural equity by strengthening the folklife infrastructure in both rural and urban communities across the United States.

The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read broadens our understanding of ourselves and our neighbors through the power of a shared reading experience. Managed by Arts Midwest, this initiative annually provides support to selected nonprofit organizations around the country to host dynamic community-wide reading programs in collaboration with local partners to develop and conduct engaging events and activities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.