Isavel Mendoza from Pennsylvania Named 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Champion

Isavel Mendoza recites behind a microphone

2025 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Isavel Mendoza of Pennsylvania. Photo by James Kegley

Isavel Mendoza, a 12th grade student at Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is the 2025 Poetry Out Loud® National Champion.

Final Competition for 2025 Poetry Out Loud Nationals on May 7, 2025

Who will be this year's poetry out loud national champion? With POL logo and photos of nine finalists: Mona Koko (Alaska) Nyla Dinkins (District of Columbia) Tianna Renee Jones (Georgia) Javontae Cranmo (Kentucky) Hadassah Broughton (New Jersey) Kaitlyn Lubega (New Mexico) Elisha Dalmeida (Oklahoma) Isavel Mendoza (Pennsylvania) Teonna Randle (South Dakota)
Out of a field of 55 state and jurisdictional champions, nine high school students are advancing to the 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Finals on May 7.

High School Students from Across Nation to Compete in Poetry Out Loud National Finals

A woman in a blue dress stands on a stage facing a dark auditorium

Photo by James Kegley

Out of the 157,000 students that participated in Poetry Out Loud nationwide this school year, 55 are now advancing to the 2025 National Finals May 6-7 in Washington, DC, where one will win the national champion title and a $20,000 cash prize.

Arts and Cultural Industries Grew at Twice the Rate of the U.S. Economy, Adding $1.2 Trillion

Logo of red lines for ACPSA
The arts and cultural sector grew at more than twice the rate of the total economy between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), a product of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Celebrate the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters April 24-26, 2025

Photos of the 2025 Jazz Masters arranged in a collage with purple, red, blue, and yellow rectangles around the photos. Text reads National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters

(clockwise from top left) Photo of Marshall Allen by Ronnie Boyd, photo of Marilyn Cripsell by Michael Patrick Kelly, photo of Chucho Valdés by InnerCat Music Group, photo of Gary Giddins by Herman Leonard, 

The National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will honor the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters at a series of public events April 24-26, 2025, in Washington, DC, culminating in a tribute concert on Saturday, April 26.

Updates on National Endowment for the Arts FY 2026 Grant Opportunities

National Endowment for the Arts logo
The National Endowment for the Arts is updating its FY 2026 grant guidelines, with deadlines in March and July 2025. These changes impact organizations applying in the Grants for Arts Projects or Challenge America categories.

National Endowment for the Arts Supports the Arts with Nearly $36.8 Million in Funding Nationwide

A collage of four photos shows groups of people participating in a collection of arts activities. In the center, a text box reads: New NEA Awards Announced! $36 million to support the arts nationwide.

>NEA Grants for Arts Projects awardees photos (clockwise beginning in upper left): Students participate in Northern Arizona University’s Indigenous Youth Media Workshop, Summer 2024. Photo courtesy of Northern Arizona University; Territory design team members and community partners at the ribbon cutting for Creating Space, a public space created by youth to explore design as a tool for community healing. Photo courtesy of Territory NFP; A group of Arts Institute for Creative Advancement apprentices hard at work as captured by their instructor during Capitol Hill Arts Workshop’s weekly scenic shop training. Photo by Reuben Rosenthal c/o Arts Institute for Creative Advancement; Iris Musicians perform during the finale of the Weinberg Manor’s 2024 Music Festival. Weinberg Manors is an affordable housing community for low-income older adults in Baltimore City. Photo by Lori Raphael.

NEA announces 1,474 awards totaling $36,790,500 to support the arts in communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC.

National Endowment for the Arts FY 2026 Grant Opportunities Now Available

NEA logo: square with black text on clear background
Nonprofit organizations can now apply for National Endowment for the Arts funding in the categories of Challenge America and Grants for Arts Projects for projects taking place beginning in 2026.

National Endowment for the Arts Announces Arts, Health, and Well-being Demonstration Projects
 

Black woman in yellow hat and flowery shirt stands in foreground with hand on her heart, group of people seated behind her also have hands over their hearts, and Black man at back plays a trumpet.

Sunni Patterson and Drew Baham, I Deserve It! community health workers, lead a group in a breathing session at Imagining America National Gathering in October 2022. Photo by Cfreedom Photography

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced today funding for nine projects that demonstrate promising local arts and cultural approaches for addressing social connection, belonging, and mental health through the arts.

National Endowment for the Arts Statement on the Death of National Heritage Fellow Ella Jenkins

An older woman with short white hair and kind eyes looks off to the side and smiles, as if recalling a beautiful story.

2017 NEA National Heritage Fellow Ella Jenkins. Photo by Alison Green

NEA Statement on the death of 2017 NEA National Heritage Fellow, children's folk singer and musician Ella Jenkins
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