Since 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts has funded more than 1,400 Big Read programs, providing more than $19 million in grants to organizations nationwide. Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. At the end of March 2020, the listed projects were approved, followed by two months of extensive technical assistance in which agency staff worked one-on-one with hundreds of organizations to adjust their projects to meet the new reality created by the pandemic. Our Town is the National Endowment for the Arts’ creative placemaking grants program. Each organization is receiving a grant ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 for their project, totaling $1,157,000. More than 5.7 million Americans have attended an NEA Big Read event, approximately 91,000 volunteers have participated at the local level, and 39,000 community organizations have partnered to make NEA Big Read activities possible. As of 2012, the NEA had awarded a total of more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congressin 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. About the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Information for Artists about funding, awards, and initiatives. The Illinois Arts Council Agency acknowledges continuous support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit arts.gov/neabigread for more information about the NEA Big Read, including reader resources—such as book overviews, discussion questions, and interviews with the authors—as well as community stories from past NEA Big Read grantees. Polk County Iowa in Des Moines is recommended for a $125,000 Our Town award to support Shoreline Signals, a series of public art installations along the Central Iowa Water Trails System at the confluence of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. The agency was created by an act of the U.S. Congress and signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965 (20 U.S.C. For their NEA Big Read kick-off event on May 13, 2020, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, Connecticut, hosted author Stephanie Burt—author of Advice from the Lights—in an online conversation with Eric Maroney, English professor at Gateway Community College. Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas, is recommended for a $20,000 award to support their festival celebrating the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment. Grants are awarded to the nation’s 56 state and territorial arts agencies and the six regional arts organizations. It Was Created by a Bipartisan Act of Congress. Alliance for Media Arts + Culture in Spokane, Washington, is recommended for a $30,000 award to support the development of a suite of online professional resources as part of Arts2Work, an apprenticeship and workforce development program for media artists. Art Works grants support artistically excellent projects that celebrate our creativity and cultural heritage, invite mutual respect for differing beliefs and values, and enrich humanity. About the National Endowment for the Arts. Twenty-five books from the NEA Big Read library were selected by grantees this year, such as Hope Jahren’s Lab Girl, Madeline Miller’s Circe, and Luis Alberto Urrea’s Into the Beautiful North. The program will provide resources for teachers in schools throughout the state with a focus on rural locations, including Native American reservations. The initiative will engage residents of Des Moines in flood resiliency as well as water safety and access issues. “These 84 organizations leading NEA Big Reads will provide opportunities for deep discussion and ways to help us better understand one another.”. The theater company 7 Stages in Atlanta, Georgia, moved their arts festival online, which included artistic responses inspired by Kelly Link’s Pretty Monsters. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Funding. One of six non-profit regional arts organizations in the United States, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 35 years. 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