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2023

A collage of images within orbs floating over green. In these images, folks engage with art exhibits, dance at powwows, act on stage, hula in community, and communicate with the elderly. Two larger orbs frame the top and bottom, with the ArtsHERE logo and crediting language over the bottom.

In November 2023, the NEA announced a new initiative to expand access to arts participation in our country. A partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the other five U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs), ArtsHERE is providing non-matching grant support for organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to equity within their practices and programming. Grants fund specific projects that strengthen grantees’ capacity to sustain meaningful community engagement and increase arts participation for underserved groups/communities. ArtsHERE is also a knowledge-sharing endeavor, with peer-learning and technical assistance opportunities for grantees. 

Historically underserved groups and communities—those whose opportunities to experience the arts have been limited by factors such as geography, race or ethnicity, economics, or disability—frequently report lower rates of participation in various arts activities than other groups do. The ArtsHERE pilot grant program is part of the NEA’s response to President Biden’s Executive Order that put forward a government-wide effort to advance equity for all Americans, recognizing that engaging in the arts is essential to individual, social, civic, and economic well-being.

In September 2024, 112 organizations from all 50 states, DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were recommended for non-matching grants of $65,000 to $130,000, totaling $12.356 million. More than 4,000 organizations applied for ArtsHERE funding in late 2023 and early 2024. The selected organizations will receive funding to support their projects, which will take place between October 2024 through June 2026.

As a pilot program, ArtsHERE will be documented and evaluated by the NEA to better understand the project activities supported by this program and how grantees approached the work. These insights may inform the future of ArtsHERE and similar funding programs in the future.

ArtsHERE is also supported by the Wallace Foundation through matching funds to the Regional Arts Organizations in support of this program.