"We do everything we can to make the arts available for all Americans in every community in the nation because, as the agency's foudning legislation states, 'The arts and humanities belong to all the people of the United States.'" — Mary Anne Carter, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency responsible for funding and promoting arts activities in American communities so that all Americans have access to the arts. But, people often ask me, what exactly does the Arts Endowment do?

As it turns out, a great deal. 

The National Endowment for the Arts is the only funder, public or private, that provides access to the arts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, as well as in all 435 Congressional districts. We take great pride in that because it shows our commitment to achieving one of our major goals: providing access to the arts, particularly in areas of the country where arts programs might not be readily available. A recent review of arts funding of the top 1,000 private and community foundations found that they don’t reach 65 percent of the counties in the country. In contrast, the Arts Endowment funds projects that reach 779 more counties than private foundations—that’s a quarter of the counties in the United States! That’s the kind of reach the National Endowment for the Arts has.

Read the rest of this article by Chairman Carter on the work of the National Endowment for the Arts in the inaugural issue of American Artscape magazine available here.