Why does a federal agency in Washington, D.C. matter to the arts in your hometown?  If you care about your local theatre, symphony, or downtown museum, NEA funding likely matters to you more than you realize. 

In 2010 alone the NEA supported 2,400 direct grants reaching all 435 congressional districts, totaling more than $110 million. The NEA contributed $43.6 million in partnership funding with state arts agencies, which supported another 23,000 grants to 17,500 organizations, schools and artists in nearly 5,000 communities across the United States. 

For example, a $10,000 NEA grant made a huge difference to Willoughby, Ohio’s Fine Arts Association. The grant supported a Music Enrichment Program for middle and secondary school students in the Painesville School District. The NEA-funded program is specifically tailored to provide weekly one-on-one music instruction, instruments, teachers, books, and transportation to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds within the district’s four counties. Most the participants are Latino or black with a large migrant worker population. These children face significant impediments to achieving in life much less music, but this program gives them a chance to succeed at both.

If not for the NEA grant, this Music Enrichment Program would have been terminated. The NEA marker also enabled them to partner with the private sector, leveraging money from the United Way and other private donations to make this program possible. Without the NEA imprimatur, that would have been an enormous challenge.

The Arts Action Fund supports increased funding from the U.S. Congress to the NEA each year so that more programs can be supported, more jobs can be created, and more people can enjoy the arts in their communities.

How does this federal money end up in your community?

Check the NEA's website to see what programs they’ve funded in your community.