The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) aims to support diverse opportunities for arts participation across the United States and its jurisdictions, ensuring all people can live more artful lives. This involves not just the creation and presentation of art by trained artists, but also public engagement with art, and the integration of arts into our everyday lives through making, doing, teaching, and learning. The NEA recognizes that historically underserved communities have lower arts participation rates and strives to address these disparities to enhance individual well-being, community health, and local economies.
The ArtsHERE grant program, initiated by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with South Arts and other U.S. Regional Arts Organizations, aims to address disparities in arts participation by investing in organizations committed to equity within their practices and programming. The program supports projects that demonstrate engagement with underserved groups/communities, reflecting those communities in their programming and including diverse voices in planning activities. The intent is to strengthen the capacity of these organizations in boosting arts participation and connecting them through technical assistance and peer-learning opportunities. ArtsHERE will provide nonmatching grants to approximately 95 nonprofit organizations, along with peer-learning and technical assistance opportunities, and conduct an evaluation to gather and share insights from the program.