WASHINGTON, D.C.: In a second round of grants for fiscal year 2019, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced $80.4 million in new awards located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and four U.S. jurisdictions. Included in the announcement are 20 grants totaling $345,000 for musical theatre projects and 113 grants totaling $2,385,000 for theatre projects. All told the endowment for all theatre projects came to $2,730,000.
Combining the awards from the first major announcement of 2019, funding to date in FY 2019 for theatre and musical theatre is 269 grants, for a grand total of more than $6 million dollars. The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, 2019.
“Reflecting the diverse artistic richness of our nation, these Arts Endowment-funded projects are varied in their size, scope, and artistic discipline,” said NEA acting chairman Mary Anne Carter in a statement. “The projects also illustrate the unique geographic reach of Arts Endowment funding, serving Americans in places large and small in all corners of the country.”
Grants recommended in this round are listed in two ways: state/jurisdiction and listed by city/town and funding category (Art Works II, Our Town, state and regional partnerships, and Research: Art Works) and then listed by artistic discipline/field. All current grants can be viewed through the Arts Endowment’s grants search.
In addition to funding, the Arts Endowment advances creative placemaking through publications and resource development. Those resources are available on the creative placemaking page.
Also this week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, chaired by Rep. Betty McCollum, released a funding bill on May 14, 2019 that includes $167.5 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). If enacted that would constitute a $12.5 million increase. After four years of incremental increases for the NEA, this substantial increase reflects the robust bipartisan support for arts funding.
The House Interior Subcommittee marked up the bill on May 15 and approved it to be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee, which will vote on the bill next week. The Senate has yet to release any appropriations bills.
