NEA 2023 Grant Opportunities Now Available
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is pleased to announce that grant guidelines and application materials are now available for Challenge America and Grants for Arts Projects (GAP). These grants to organizations support specific projects in any part of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. jurisdictions. See below for additional information and access the full guidelines at arts.gov/grants.
The NEA is proud to support the nation’s arts sector with grant opportunities so that together we can help everyone live more artful lives. The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. As we emerge from the pandemic and plan for the future, the arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives.
Eligible applicants include nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) U.S. organizations, units of state or local government, and federally recognized tribal communities or tribes. Eligible organizations that received American Rescue Plan (ARP) or CARES funding are also eligible to apply to Challenge America or GAP. Applicants may be arts organizations, local arts agencies, arts service organizations, local education agencies (school districts), and other organizations that can help advance the NEA’s goals.
Challenge America
Challenge America offers support primarily to small organizations for projects in all artistic disciplines to reach historically underserved groups/communities that have rich and dynamic cultural identities. Challenge America may be a good entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding. The category features an abbreviated application, a robust structure of technical assistance, and grants for a set amount of $10,000.
Grants require a cost share/match of $10,000 consisting of cash and/or in-kind contributions. Total project costs must be at least $20,000 or greater.
Application Deadline: April 27, 2023 for projects taking place beginning in 2024.
Sign up for a guidelines webinar on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at 3:00 pm ET. (An archive of the webinar will be available.)
Grants for Arts Projects
Grants for Arts Projects is our largest grant program for organizations, providing expansive funding opportunities for communities across the nation in a wide range of artistic disciplines. Through project-based funding, the program supports opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.
This grants program also welcomes projects that engage with individuals whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, race or ethnicity, economics, or disability.
We encourage projects that address any of the following:
- Elevate artists as integral and essential to a healthy and vibrant society
- Celebrate the nation’s creativity and/or cultural heritage
- Facilitate cross-sector collaborations that center the arts at the intersection of other disciplines, sectors, and industries
- Contribute to healthy and thriving local, regional, state-wide, and national arts ecosystems and arts infrastructures
- Invest in organizational capacity-building and leadership development for arts organizations, arts workers, and artists
- Build arts organizations’ capacity to serve a broad public through digital or emergent technology and/or support tech-centered creative practices across all artistic disciplines and forms
- Originate from or are in collaboration with the following constituencies encouraged by White House executive orders:
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
- Tribal Colleges and Universities,
- American Indian and Alaska Native tribes,
- Predominantly Black Institutions,
- Hispanic Serving Institutions,
- Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and
- Organizations that support the independence and lifelong inclusion of people with disabilities.
In recognition of the United States of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, we also welcome arts projects that educate and engage communities in dialogue about the past, present, and future of our nation.
Cost share/matching grants range from $10,000 to $100,000. Designated local arts agencies that are eligible to subgrant may request from $30,000 to $150,000 for subgranting projects. A minimum cost share/match equal to the grant amount is required.
Application Deadlines: February 9 and July 6, 2023 for projects taking place beginning in 2024.
Sign up for a guidelines webinar on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 3:00 pm ET. (An archive of the webinar will be available.) Additional discipline-specific webinars will also be available; visit arts.gov/events for more details and to register.
Resources for Applicants
As noted above, there are applicant resources available for Challenge America and Grants for Arts Projects. These include online tutorials, checklists, discipline-specific guidelines webinars, and opportunities for informal virtual office hours with NEA program staff.
Are you a first-time applicant? Applying for a federal grant is a multi-step process that is always entirely free. Visit our resource guide for new applicants to access information on required registrations, the application process, things to know before you apply, and information on managing your award.
Additional NEA Grant Opportunities:
Guidelines for Literature Fellowships for Translation Projects (Application Deadline: January 12, 2023) and Creative Writing Fellowships: Prose (Application Deadline: March 8, 2023) are also available.
Guidelines for Research awards will be available in January 2023 with a March 2023 deadline. Guidelines for Our Town will be posted in spring 2023 with an August 2023 deadline. Details on all NEA grant opportunities can be found at arts.gov/grants.
