NEA Inaugurates ArtsHERE Program with $12.4 Million in Grants to Arts Nonprofits

TheNational Endowment for the Artshas unveiled a new pilot program calledArtsHEREaimed at expanding access to the arts. The initiative is distributing $12.4 million in first-round grants among 112 nonprofit organizations, each of which will receive between $65,000 to $130,00 for projects that engage meaningfully with the community and that increase participation by underserved groups and communities. The NEA will additionally supply the organizations with peer-learning and technical assistance opportunities.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is thrilled to provide resources to a group of exceptional organizations throughArtsHERE, a program to help deepen meaningful and lasting arts engagement in underserved communities,” said NEA chair Maria Rosario Jackson in a statement. “Everyone should be able to live an artful life, and ArtsHERE is an important step in ensuring we are strengthening our nation’s arts ecosystem to make this a reality.”

ArtsHERE was formed in response to President Joe Biden’s 2022executive orderaimed at making the arts more accessible to underserved and marginalized communities, which itself came on the heels of a 2017 survey on public arts participation that found that such communities were typically excluded. The project is a collaboration between the NEA and the United States Regional Arts Organizations, which encompasses six nonprofits—Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts, and Western States Arts Federation—all of which are devoted to making the arts more accessible and inclusive, and which aim to foster creativity across a broad population. South Arts is administering the program, whose inaugural participants were chosen from among more than four thousand applicants.

“We are very excited to work with these organizations on their projects,” said South Arts president and CEO Susie Surkamer in a statement. “The arts are essential to the fabric of our nation, and at the heart of this necessity are the organizations and individuals who champion them. Through ArtsHERE, we are excited to continue expanding and enriching the arts landscape both nationally and within these unique local communities.”

A full list of winners is below, broken down by state. Further information regarding each organization can be foundhere.

Alabama

Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, Alberta, AL, $96,643

Studio by the Tracks, Birmingham, AL, $95,508

Alaska

Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK, $130,000

Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM), Juneau, AK, $105,610

Arizona

Border Youth Tennis Exchange, Inc. (BYTE), Nogales, AZ, $130,000

Hopitutuqaiki, $116,335

Arkansas

Tricycle Theatre for Youth (Ovations Plus), $130,000

California

Bezerk Productions, Joshua Tree, CA, $120,800

Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Inc., Los Angeles, $100,000

Latino Center of Art & Culture, Sacramento, CA, $130,000

Colorado

KUTE (KSUT), Ignacio, CO, $130,000

Phamaly Theatre Company, Denver, $130,000

Connecticut

Afro Caribbean Cultural Centter (ACCC), Waterbury, CT, $130,000

Community Partners in Action, Hartford, CT, $130,000

HartBeat Ensemble, Inc., Hartford, CT, $100,000

NXTHVN, Inc., New Haven, $130,000

Delaware

4youth Productions (4Youth), Wilmington, DE, $89,190

District of Columbia

Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA), $130,000

Florida

Arca Images, Coral Gables, FL, $100,000

Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc., Miami, $97,643

NOMADstudio, St. Petersburg, FL, $100,000

Georgia

Deep Center, Savannah, GA, $100,000

drawchange, Atlanta, $100,000

Southern Fried Queer Pride, $130,000

Guam

Guam Unique Merchandise & Art (GUMA), Hagåtña, GU, $130,000

Hawaii

Mana Maoli, Honolulu, $130,000

PA’I Foundation, Honolulu, $130,000

Idaho

Caldwell Fine Arts, Caldwell, ID, $68, 598

Global Lounge, Boise, ID, $130,000

Illinois

Free Spirit Media, Chicago, $110,000

Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, Urbana, IL, $112,400

Indiana

ArtMix, Indianapolis, $85,000

Indy Convergence, Indianapolis, $130,000

Iowa

Azuibuke Arts, Davenport, IA, $100,000

Iowa Arts in Education (ArtfForce Iowa), Des Moines, $130,000

Kansas

Wyandot Nation of Kansas, McLouth, KS, $130,000

Kentucky

Montgomery County Council for the Arts, Inc. (Gateway Regional Arts Center), Mt. Sterling, KY, $76,150

Louisiana

Dancing Grounds, New Orleans, $125,000

Maine

Indigo Arts Alliance, Portland, ME, $110,500

Maryland

Ballet After Dark, Baltimore, $130,000

Community Building Artworks, Rockville, MD, $130,000

Massachusetts

Castle of Our Skins, Roxbury, MA, $120,500

Company One, Inc., Boston, $130,000

Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston, $130,000

Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts, Inc., Worcester, MA, $117,000

Michigan

Floyd J. McCree Theatre (The New McCree Theatre), Flint, MI, $75,000

West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology, Grand Rapids, MI, $103, 500

Minnesota

Indigenous Roots, St. Paul, MN, $130,000

South Sudanese Foundation, Moorhead, MN, $130,000

Mississippi

Gloster Arts Project, Natchez, MS, $75,643

Griot Arts, Clarksdale, MS, $130,000

Missouri

Arts Mentorship, Kansas City, MO, $130,000

Creative Reaction Lab, St. Louis, $130,000

Kimbilio, St. Louis, $92,500

Mattie Rhodes Center, Kansas City, MO, $130,00

Montana

Equinox Theater (Verge Theater), Bozeman, MT, $65,000

The Myrna Loy, Helena, MT, $80,000

Nebraska

The Union for Contemporary Art, Omaha, $65,000

Nevada

Arts for All Nevada, Reno, $76,200

Social CirKISH Foundation, Las Vegas, $65,926

New Hampshire

Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, Portsmouth, NH, $76, 069

New Jersey

Next Generation Foundation for Street and Club Dance Culture, North Bergen, NJ, $65,000

Sam & Devorah Foundation for Trans Youth, Chatham, NJ, $117,000

New Mexico

AfroMundo, Albuquerque, NM, $130,000

Working Classroom, Albuquerque, NM, $100,000

New York

Fourth Arts Block, Inc., New York, $106,020

Intertwine Arts, New York, $77,425

Iroquois Museum, Howes Cave, NY, $83,340

Musicambia, Brooklyn, NY, $109,055

The Laundromat Project, Brooklyn, NY, $117,000

North Carolina

NorthStar Church of the Arts, Durham, NC, $129,359

Southern Documentary Fund, Durham, NC, $87,643

The Beautiful Project, Durham, NC, $130,000

North Dakota

Kori Art, Grand Forks, ND, $87,250

Sacred Pipe Resource Center, Bismarck, ND, $110,000

Ohio

Healing Broken Circles, Columbus, OH, $130,000

Marion Voices Folklife + Oral History, Caledonia, HO, $130,0009

Oklahoma

Art Maker, LLC (Dance Maker Academy), Pawhuska, OK, $65,000

RACE Dance Collective, Oklahoma City, $130,000

Oregon

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Portland, OR, $130,000

Prismid Sanctuary, Portland, OR, $130,000

Pennsylvania

Centro de Cultura Arte Trabajo y Educacion (CCATE), Norristown, PA, $117,000

Creative Citizen Studios, Pittsburgh, $95,000

Philadelphia Folklore Project, $117,000

Ridgelines Language Arts, Aaronsburg, PA, $117,000

Puerto Rico

Taller Comunidad la Goyco, Inc., San Juan, PR, $70,000

Rhode Island

Puerto Rican Institute for Arts and Advocacy, Pawtucket, RI, $101,400

South Carolina

The Catawba Cultural Center, Rock Hill, SC, $120,453

The Watering Hole, Columbia, SC, $88,300

South Dakota

Cheyenne River Youth Project, Eagle Butte, SD, $110,000

First Peoples Fund, Rapid City, SD, $110,000

Tennessee

Native American Indian Association of Tennessee, Inc., Nashville, TN, $130,000

The Bottom, Knoxville, TN, $130,000

Texas

Art Spark Texas, Austin, TX $105,903

Arts Connect Houston, $130,000

Babes Fest, Inc. (Future Front Texas), Austin, TX, $130,000

RSA of Dance & Performing Arts, Houston, $125,000

Teatro Dallas, $74,000

The Welman Project, Fort Worth, TX, $74,900

Utah

Mundi Project, Salt Lake City, $130,000

Queer Spectra Arts Festival, Salt Lake City, $65,000

Vermont

Clemmons Family Farm, Inc., Charlotte, VT, $130,000

Special Needs Support Center, White River Junction, VT, $95,300

Virgin Islands

Lion Haven, Christiansted, VI, $117,000

Virginia

Oakwood Arts, Richmond, VA, $123,500

Tidewater Arts Outreach, Norfolk, VA, $123,500

Washington

Indigenous Performance Productions, Olympia, WA, $130,000

West Virginia

Positive People Association, Huntington, WV, $112,478

Wisconsin

Ko-Thi Dance Company, Milwaukee, WI, $130,000

Mahogany Black Arts & Cultural Center, Racine, WI, $130,000

Wyoming

Laramie Public Art Coalition, Laramie, WY, $130,000

Pinedale Fine Arts Council, Pinedale, WY, $67,000