Line of women in ceremonial garb standing with pottery on their heads in front of mountains.
The Zuni Olla Maidens, 2024 NEA National Heritage Fellows, are a venerated dance troupe from Zuni Pueblo in western New Mexico, equally well-known for singing, drumming, and their trademark dance balancing pottery on their heads, as well as being an all-female troupe. Photo by Elliot DeBruyn, courtesy of Hypothetical
A group of four men in traditional regalia walking in a line outdoors.

Participants in the traditional men's dance category at the 2021 Tennessee Indian Education Pow Wow. Photo by Kenneth Purdom, courtesy of the Native American Indian Association of Tennessee

A small group of people stand behind a banner reading "Grand Opening". A man in the center is cutting the banner with large golden scissors.

June 2023 grand opening of the Tuba City Entrepreneurship Hub. From left to right: Council Delegate Otto Tso (Diné/Navajo), Change Labs executive director Heather Fleming (Diné/Navajo), Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren (Diné/Navajo), Change Labs co-founder Jessica Stago (Diné/Navajo), Change Labs Board Chair Brett Isaac (Diné/Navajo). Photo by Jesse Wodin

Woman with gray hair wearing dark sweater sitting on red, pillowed chair with Native-designed blanket behind her head.

Traditional storyteller Esther Stutzman in a still from the documentary series on the Native people of Oregon. Image by Tim Keenan Burgess, Wisdom of the Elders

What’s Happening at the NEA

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson
Chair Jackson on Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month 2024
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2025-26 NEA Big Read Applicant Webinar

Nov 14, 2024 
02:00 ~ 03:00 pm ET
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New Issue of American Artscape is Now Available Online!

"Bridges to Possibilities: Arts and the Built Environment"

Featured News

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New Research Explores Arts Engagement and Social Connectedness
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President Biden to Award National Medals of Arts
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Shakespeare in American Communities Expands to Support Apprenticeships, Community-Based Theater Engagement

Featured Stories

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Blog
Voices from the Field: What We Learned from a Disability Arts Listening Session
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Podcast
Christina Henry
Author
Emily Edenshaw
Video
NEA Artful Life Moment: Emily Edenshaw, Alaska Native Heritage Center

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 diverse opportunities for arts participation.

Approximately 2,700 Grants

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

More than 70 Percent

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

Approximately 33 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 (2022) 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.

$1.1 trillion

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

4.3 Percent

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

Nearly 5.2 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.

0.00337 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 diverse 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.