A man in military uniform and a woman in a tan blouse and black slacks sit across from each other and play guitars.

A service member at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, plays guitar alongside a music therapist, part of the Creative Forces clinical program. Army photo/John Pennell

A group of teenagers smile and pose in front of a sign for the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge. They each hold a binder with their name and the name of their winning song.

The winners of the 2025 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge. Photo by Addie Symonds

Two men in military uniforms bend over a long table from either side. They each are holding paintbrushes and are painting on a large sheet of paper that spans the length of the table between them.

Service members participate in art therapy classes, part of the Creative Forces clinical program at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Photo by Devin Pickering

A man wearing a camouflage shirt with the number 93 and beige cargo shorts pushes a child sitting on a swinging blue netted ball, part of a colorful, large-scale netted play structure.

Families explore the interactive exhibits at the New Children’s Museum in San Diego during a Blue Star Museums event. Photo by Brandon Colbert Photography
 

2025 Poetry Out Loud winners (left to right) Second place winner Teonna Randle (SD), National Champion Isavel Mendoza (PA), and third place winner Kaitlyn Lubega (NM). Photo by James Kegley

2025 NEA Jazz Master Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra perform at the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert. Photo by Jati Lindsay

A man in military uniform and two children sit at a table coloring with crayons.

Military families participate in art-making activities at the Dayton Art Institute during a Blue Star Museums event. Photo by the Carrs & Co Photography House

Two boys engage in an art exhibit at a museum. In the foreground, one child points at an information board while another takes notes.

Military families explore the Tampa Bay History Museum during a Blue Star Museums event. Photo by Octavio Jones

A man dressed in military uniform holds a child to allow access to a brightly lit table featuring colored squares.

Military families explored the Dayton Art Institute during a Blue Star Museums event. Photo by the Carrs & Co Photography House

A young woman with her hands upraised speaks into a microphone

National Champion Isavel Mendoza of Pennsylvania competes at the 2025 Poetry Out Loud finals. Photo by James Kegley

Three men and a woman smile and walk single-file onstage while musicians play behind them.

2025 NEA Jazz Masters. Photo by Jati Lindsay

What’s Happening at the NEA

Collage of four photos showing people engaging with art-dancing, playing music, creating, and displaying visual art projects
Creative Forces Supports Community Arts Engagement Projects for Military-Connected People
Two boys engage in an art exhibit at a museum. In the foreground, one child pointing at an information board while another take notes.
Military Families Can Visit Participating Blue Star Museums for Free Now though Labor Day

See the map of participating museums
Photos of the winning songwriters alongside their names, schools, location, and song title. Text provides the details on the concert on June 16, 2025.
Challenge Accepted!: Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge Winners Concert

Watch now!

Stories

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A man with a long grey beard and mustache sits behind a red guitar. His tattooed hands in the midst of playing a tune
Read
The Art of Recovery: Creative Forces at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital
Three men and a woman smile and walk single-file onstage while musicians play behind them.
Watch
2025 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert
Mary Jackson 2010. Photo by Tom Pich
Listen
Mary Jackson
NEA National Heritage Fellow

News

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Isavel Mendoza smiling and holding his trophy while confetti falls around him
Congratulations to 2025 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Isavel Mendoza of Pennsylvania
A colorful collage of seven individual artists with a medallion in the upper right corner being held by a red, blue and yellow ribbon. Text reads 2025 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships
Meet the 2025 NEA National Heritage Fellows!
Logo of red lines for ACPSA
Arts and Cultural Industries Grew at Twice the Rate of the U.S. Economy, Adding $1.2 Trillion

Grants

The National Endowment for the Arts awards grants to nonprofit organizations, creative writers and translators, state arts agencies, and regional arts organizations in support of arts projects across the country.
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Impact

See the impact of the Arts Endowment on your state, and how the agency's work in research, accessibility, and other areas has had a major impact in the arts and culture of the country.
Go to the Impact section »

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with opportunities for arts participation.

Approximately 2,400 Grants

Recommended for grant awards annually in all 50 states, DC, and U.S. territories.

More than 60 Percent

Percentage of Arts Endowment grants that go to small and medium-sized organizations (budgets up to $2 million).

Approximately 34 Percent

Percentage of Arts Endowment-funded activities in high-poverty communities.

Some Facts from the National Endowment for the Arts

These facts are based on the most recent data (2023) from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), which is produced jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Office of Research & Analysis and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Commerce Department. The ACPSA tracks the annual economic impact of arts and cultural production from 35 industries, both commercial and nonprofit.

$1.2 trillion

Amount the arts and cultural industries contribute to the U.S. economy.

4.2 Percent

Percentage of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product is accounted for by arts and cultural industries.

Nearly 5.4 Million

Americans work in the arts and cultural industries on payroll.

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.

62 Cents

The Arts Endowment’s annual cost to each American.

0.003 Percent

The Arts Endowment’s percentage of the federal budget.

Nearly $6 Billion

Amount awarded by the Arts Endowment since its beginning in 1965.

Some Facts from the National Endowment for the Arts

These facts are based on the most recent data (2022) from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), a national survey conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau that has allowed cultural policymakers, arts managers, scholars, and journalists to obtain reliable statistics about American patterns of arts engagement.

Utah

The state’s percentage of adults who attended a live performing arts event (62 percent) exceeded that of the national percentage of U.S. adults (38 percent).

Vermont

The percentage of the state’s adults who read a literary work (60 percent) far exceeded the national average (38 percent).

Wisconsin

The state’s adult population created or performed any type of art at a higher percentage (73 percent) than the national average for U.S. adults (52 percent).

Some Facts about the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with opportunities for arts participation.

Approximately $8 million

Amount of arts education funding for lifelong learning projects annually.

More than 24 million

Estimated number of people who attend a live arts event annually.

42

Percentage of NEA grants awarded to localities of less than a million people.