National Endowment for the Arts : serving a nation in which artistic excellence is celebrated, supported, and available to all

Serving a Nation
in which Artistic
Excellence Is
Celebrated,
Supported, and
Available to All

The National Endowment for the
Arts provides national recognition
and support to significant projects
of artistic excellence, thus
preserving and enhancing our
nation's diverse cultural heritage.
This public investment in the
nation's cultural life has brought
both new and classic works of art to
every corner of America.

What We

Encourage and support artistic
creativity and preserve our diverse
cultural heritage.

Advance learning in the arts.

Make the arts more widely available
in communities throughout the
country.

Develop and maintain partnerships
that advance the mission of the
National Endowment for the Arts.

Grants and Awards

The Arts Endowment. . .

Awards grants to nonprofit
organizations to support exemplary
projects in the arts, such as performances,
exhibitions, commissions, residencies,
workshops, and collaborations
with artists from other countries.

Funds projects in the following
disciplines: dance, design, folk and
traditional arts, literature, media arts,
multidisciplinary arts, museums, music,
musical theater, opera, presenting, theater,
and visual arts.

Supports artistic excellence through
its individual fellowships: Creative
Writing Fellowships — awarded annually
to emerging and mid-level writers of
exceptional promise — and American
Jazz Masters and National Heritage
Fellowships — awarded annually to
jazz and traditional artists who have
demonstrated a mastery of their
art form.

Applicants of grants for arts projects may
be nonprofit arts or service organizations,
federally recognized tribal communities
or tribes, official units of state or local
government, and other organizations that
advance the mission of the Arts Endowment.
Applications are evaluated on the basis of
artistic merit and excellence.

Application guidelines and forms
are available on our Web site:

www.arts.gov

What We Support

ARTISTIC CREATIVITY AND PRESERVATION

• Projects that provide opportunities for
artists to create, refine, and present
their work.

• Projects that preserve significant works
of art and cultural traditions.

• Projects that enhance the capacity of
arts organizations.

Lionel Hampton,
1988 American
Jazz Masters
Fellowship
recipient.

LEARNING IN THE ARTS

• Projects that provide skills development
in the arts for children and youth in
early childhood, school-based, and
community-based settings.

• Professional development programs for
teachers, artists, and others engaged in
arts learning projects.

HITS Theatre of Houston, Texas, works with students on the musical Pippin.

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Montana Shakespeare in the Parks has brought quality theatrical productions
to more than 500,000 people in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.

CHALLENGE AMERICA: ACCESS TO THE ARTS

• Challenge America, a program started in
2001, supports the presentation, exhibition,
and publication of artistic works for
underserved communities, broadening
access to and sustaining community
engagement in the arts.

• Projects include outreach to diverse
communities and new audiences, national
broadcasts of quality arts performances
on television and radio, innovative uses
of technology to enhance access to the
arts, educational activities that are
offered primarily to adults or w
intergenerational groups, and I
community development.

Quileute singer Lilian Pullen

participates in Washington State

Arts Commissions apprenticeship

program in the traditional

arts, supported by the NEA.

Photo by Lou Corbett

PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE ARTS

• Through partnership agreements, the
Endowment provides funding to state arts
agencies and regional arts organizations for
projects that foster creativity, preservation,
arts learning, and outreach to underserved
communities.

• Through cooperative agreements, the
Endowment joins with major private and
public organizations to undertake major
national and international arts initiatives.

Exemplary Projects
We Have Supported

Design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in

Washington, DC

PBS production of Ken Burns' documentary, Jazz

Creative Writing Fellowships for writers such as John
Irving, Rita Dove, and Sandra Cisneros

American Jazz Masters Fellowships for musicians such
as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, and Dave Brubeck

National Heritage Fellowships for folk and traditional
artists such as Clifton Chenier, Lem Ward, and Jean
Ritchie

Mayors' Institute on City Design, established to
help mayors improve the design and livability of their
cities through interaction with design professionals

National College Choreography Initiative in which
colleges and universities nationwide recruit professional
dance artists to restage classic American dance works or
create new works for students

Theater Arts Residencies in which playwrights work
with local nonprofit theaters to create new plays to perform

Coming Up Taller Awards that recognize and support
outstanding community arts and humanities programs
for children

Continental Harmony, a national commissioning
program that pairs communities across the country
with composers for the creation of new works

Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob
Lawrence, the first major retrospective of the
renowned visual artist

Jacob Lawrence, Ironers (1943)

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A nation in which artistic
excellence is celebrated,
supported, and available
to all.

Our Missio

The National Endowment for
the Arts enriches our nation and
its diverse cultural heritage by
supporting works of artistic
excellence, advancing learning
in the arts, and strengthening
the arts in communities
throughout the country.

www.arts.gov

NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20506

202-682-5400