WASHINGTON, D.C.: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced an Art Works research grant funding opportunity to investigate the value and impact of the arts on individuals and communities.  Guidelines for applicants will be outlined in a webinar Sept.9, and the application deadline is Oct. 20.

The NEA is interested in measuring and clarifying the factors, characteristics, and conditions of the U.S. arts ecosystem. With fields such as cognitive neuroscience, sociology, psychology, medicine, and health, the NEA hopes to research the correlation between the arts with health, well-being, creativity, learning, and economic prosperity.

Projects may include, but are not limited to: primary or secondary data analyses; psychological studies that take place in clinical or non-clinical settings; third-party evaluations of an art program’s effectiveness and impact; studies that address economic impact; statistically-driven meta-analyses of existing research so as to provide a fresh understanding of the value and/or impact of the arts; translational research that moves scientific evidence toward the development, testing, and standardization of new arts-related programs, practices, models, or tools that can be used easily by other practitioners and researchers.