National Endowment for the Arts Gives $36.8 Million in Funding Nationwide

The National Endowment for the Arts has given 1,474 awards totaling $36,790,500 to support the arts in communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC. Funding for organizations is recommended in the categories of Grants for Arts Projects, Challenge America, Research Grants in the Arts, and Research Labs, and for individuals through Literature Fellowships in creative writing and for translation projects.

“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place—those that address our past and help us consider our future, integrate arts and culture in new ways into our lives and communities, and provide powerful opportunities for people throughout our nation to come together through a shared arts experience.”

Each year, the NEA assembles panels of experts and knowledgeable laypeople with relevant expertise and experience to review NEA applications and rate them in accordance with published review criteria. More than 340 panelists reviewed the eligible applications for this round of funding. Recommendations were then presented to the National Council on the Arts. The council made its recommendations to the NEA Chair, who made the final decision on all grant awards. Learn more about the grant review process or volunteer to be a panelist.  

Grants for Arts Projects

Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) provides expansive funding opportunities to strengthen the nation’s arts and cultural ecosystem, including opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.

The National Endowment for the Arts received 2,195 eligible Grants for Arts Projects applications this round, which were submitted in February 2024. The NEA will award 1,127 grants for a total of $31,825,500 to support arts projects in 15 artistic disciplines and fields. All grants require a nonfederal cost share/match of at least 1 to 1. Examples include:

A local arts agencies subgranting award to Arrowhead Regional Arts Council in Duluth, Minnesota, of $60,000 to support the expansion of competitive grant programs for arts organizations and individual artists. The Art Project Grant program will support arts activities presented by small organizations with a focus on applicants from rural areas. The Individual Artist Project Grant program will provide a stipend for artists to create, perform, or exhibit work.

An award to Artist Communities Alliance in Providence, Rhode Island, of $80,000 to support a professional development program for the artist residency field focused on emergency preparedness and disaster response. The program will include workshops, training sessions, and the development of resources to share with the broader field. 
An award to Arts Alive! in Keene, New Hampshire, of $25,000 to support the conceptual design of a new community arts center. The design process will engage artists, designers, and individuals from Keene and across the rural Monadnock Region, to share ideas and desires for a community arts center that will include studios, music practice rooms, residences, workshop/classroom space, gallery space, office spaces, and more.

An award to Great Plains Theatre Commons in Omaha, Nebraska, of $35,000 to support the annual New Play Conference. Playwrights, actors, directors, dramaturgs, and designers from across the United States will gather for learning, collaboration, rehearsals, readings, and performances.

An award to the Iris Music Project Inc in Columbia, Maryland, of $20,000 to support chamber ensemble performances in underserved healthcare communities. Weekly music programs will be developed in collaboration with musicians and residents at senior living facilities. As part of America 250, a culminating event focusing on the question, “What does it mean to be American?” will provide an opportunity for individuals to share—through stories, songs, and art—their diverse and unique perspectives on their personal and collective histories.

An award to Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc in Miami, Florida, of $30,000 to support a year-round arts education program for underserved groups, including individuals with vision disabilities. Tactile and visual arts activities in various mediums aim to enhance sensory perception, fine motor skills, spatial awareness, and overall well-being. Art instruction will be tailored to participants' unique visual needs, empowering them to create art in an inclusive setting with access accommodations and adaptive equipment.

An award to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, of $25,000 to support the Indigenous Youth Media Workshop. Through mentorship by accomplished filmmakers, journalists, and photographers, high school students will participate in a comprehensive hands-on media arts production program focused on telling stories important to their communities.

This year’s Grants for Arts Projects application deadlines are Thursday, February 13, 2025, and Thursday, July 10, 2025. Each discipline has outlined their broader arts ecosystem, the types of projects they encourage, and guidance on characteristics of competitive proposals. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources, including an on demand video of the FY 2026 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines webinar.

Challenge America

Challenge America grants are awarded in all artistic disciplines and offer support primarily to small organizations for a wide variety of arts projects that extend the reach of the arts underserved groups and communities that may have limited access to the arts relative to geography, ethnicity, economic status, and/or disability. This includes communities that have limited grant funding opportunities and/or have been underserved by national arts funding; small organizations that may face barriers to accessing grant funding; and organizations that may benefit from enhanced technical assistance resources. This program is often an entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding.

The National Endowment for the Arts reviewed 563 eligible applications for Challenge America funding this year, which were submitted in April 2024, and will award 272 grants for a total of $2,720,000. Each grant is for $10,000 and requires a minimum $10,000 cost share/match. Examples include:

An award to Maryland Youth Ballet in Silver Spring, Maryland, to support dance classes for children with physical and developmental disabilities. Weekly classes are led by specially trained ballet instructors and a pediatric physical therapist. Together, they work with children who are able to walk without assistance as well as those who are supported by wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility aids. 

An award to Prison Performing Arts in Saint Louis, Missouri, to support the development and presentation of a new play adaptation of “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott created in collaboration with incarcerated artists. Playwright Courtney Bailey will work with the artists to develop this new play during their weekly spoken word class for inmates.

An award to Three Rivers Arts Council in Wahpeton, North Dakota, to support a Native artists residency program that will engage students and the public through Native arts, music, and storytelling. NEA National Heritage Fellow Bryan Akipa and other artists will give performances, visit classrooms, and participate in other activities in the community.
The next Challenge America application deadline is Thursday, April 24, 2025. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources and register for the FY26 Challenge America guidelines webinar on Wednesday, February 27, 2024, from 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET.

Research Awards

The NEA has two research grant opportunities for projects that engage with the NEA’s five-year research agenda.

Research Grants in the Arts supports research studies that investigate the value and/or impact of the arts, either as individual components of the U.S. arts ecosystem or as they interact with each other and/or with other domains of American life. In total, the NEA will award 18 organizations grants totaling $1,045,000. Recent examples include:

An award to American Symphony Orchestra League (aka League of American Orchestras) in New York of $45,000 to support a mixed-methods study examining business practices and financial strategies implemented by nonprofit orchestras after the COVID-19 pandemic.

An award to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of $80,000 for a study examining university students' creative practices with artificial intelligence (AI), for the purpose of informing arts-integrative secondary education.

An award to Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc. (aka High Museum of Art) in Atlanta, Georgia, of $80,000 to support a mixed-methods study of the relationship between visiting an art museum and individual well-being across various adult populations.

In addition, the NEA also supports NEA Research Labs—these are grounded in the social and behavioral sciences and support transdisciplinary research teams investigating the value and impact of the arts for the benefit of both the arts and non-arts sectors. There are currently 29 active Research Labs.

This year’s Research Labs and Research Grants in the Arts application deadline is Monday March 24, 2025. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources and register for a Research Grants in the Arts webinar on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET.

Literature Fellowships

Fellowships help writers and translators to create new work and thus expand the portfolio of literary art available to American audiences. These fellowships allow recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.

This year’s Creative Writing Fellowships are in poetry. These fellowships are highly competitive, with more than 2,000 eligible applications received for FY 2025. The NEA will award 35 Creative Writing Fellowships of $25,000 each, totaling $875,000. You can read more about the recipients in the Creative Writing Fellowships section of arts.gov. The next deadline for Creative Writing Fellowships is Wednesday, March 12, 2025, and will be for prose (fiction and creative nonfiction).

The NEA will award Translation Fellowships to 22 translators ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 totaling $325,000 to translate works from 17 languages and 21 countries into English, including books from Guinea, Mali, and the Philippines, countries not previously represented through an NEA fellowship.