Connecting Constituents with Federal Assistance for the Arts and Humanities
January 2, 2024
Connecting Constituents with Federal Assistance for the Arts
and Humanities
The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities is
heritage, culture, and knowledge and that primarily
the primary vehicle for federal support for the arts and the
serve and represent Native Americans and Native
humanities. Established in 1965, the Foundation currently
Hawaiians.
consists of three agencies: the Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the
• National Leadership Grants for Museums supports
Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the
projects that address critical needs of the museum field
Humanities (NEH). IMLS is funded through the Labor,
and that have the potential to advance practice in the
Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related
profession. This includes tangible results such as
Agencies Appropriations Act. NEA and NEH are funded
models, tools, curriculum, resources, research findings,
through the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
and new services that can be widely used, adapted,
Appropriations Act. These three federal agencies provide
scaled, or replicated.
assistance to museums, arts centers, theaters, performing
arts, arts classes, arts programs, humanities programs, and
• Museum Grants for African American History and
more.
Culture is designed to build the capacity of African
American museums and support the growth and
P.L. 117-328, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023,
development of museum professionals at African
provided FY2023 appropriations for all three agencies. In
American museums.
total, the act contained $708.8 million for the agencies.
IMLS appropriations for FY2023 totaled $294.8 million for
• American Latino Museum Internship and
library and museum grants, NEA’s appropriations for
Fellowship Initiative is designed to provide students
FY2023 totaled $207.0 million, and NEH appropriations for
enrolled in institutions of higher education, including
FY2023 totaled $207.0 million.
Hispanic-serving institutions, opportunities for
internships and fellowships at American Latino
More information about federal funding for the three
museums.
agencies is available in CRS Report R47248, National
Foundation on the Arts and Humanities: FY2023
• Inspire! Grants for Small Museums supports small
Appropriations.
museums serving the public through projects focused on
the categories of lifelong learning, institutional capacity,
This In Focus provides a summary of grant programs
and collections stewardship and access.
administered by IMLS, NEA, and NEH to support arts and
humanities projects. Grants awarded by formula to state or
IMLS’s grants database allows searches of past grants by
regional agencies may be subawarded to other entities,
year, state, city, and program.
including local governments, nonprofits, and individuals.
In general, competitive or discretionary grants are awarded
National Endowment for the Arts
directly to eligible applicants by the federal agency.
NEA is a major source of support for all arts disciplines.
Typically, NEA grants are used to support nonprofit arts
Institute of Museum and Library Services organizations and public arts agencies and organizations.
IMLS is the primary administrator of grants supporting the
nation’s state, local, and private libraries and museums.
The State Partnership Agreement grants program,
NEA’s largest, awards grants by formula to state and
IMLS administers the following competitive grant
regional arts agencies. Agencies apply annually for this
programs for museums, among others:
support, which includes general funding for their priorities
and designated funding for folk and traditional arts, arts
• Museums for America supports museums of all sizes
education, and outreach to underserved communities.
and disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the
Organizations can apply to their state and regional arts
public through exhibitions, educational or interpretive
agencies for grant funding through this program.
programs, digital learning resources, professional
development, community debate and dialogue,
NEA’s competitive grants include the following:
audience-focused studies, and collections management,
curation, care, and conservation.
• Grants for Arts Projects is NEA’s principal
competitive grant program for nonprofit organizations.
• Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services
Grants are awarded in a number of artistic disciplines,
grants support programs that sustain indigenous
including artist communities, arts education, dance,
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Connecting Constituents with Federal Assistance for the Arts and Humanities
design, folk and traditional arts, literary arts, local arts
NEH has more than 40 grant programs, including the
agencies, media arts, museums, music, musical theater,
following, in which art organizations and museums may be
opera, theater, and visual arts. The program supports
most interested:
public engagement with the arts and arts education,
integration of the arts with strategies promoting the
• Public Humanities Projects supports projects in three
health and well-being of people and communities, and
categories: exhibitions, historic places, and humanities
improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within
discussions. Awards support projects that are intended
the arts sector.
to reach broad and diverse public audiences in non-
classroom settings in the United States. Projects should
• Our Town supports projects that integrate arts, culture,
engage with ideas that are accessible to the general
and design activities into efforts that strengthen
public and employ appealing interpretive formats.
communities by advancing local economic, physical, or
social outcomes. Applicants must demonstrate
• Digital Projects for the Public supports projects that
committed leadership from the local level and show
interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily
evidence of a diverse group of local stakeholders
digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile
engaged in the proposed project.
applications and tours, interactive touch screens and
kiosks, games, and virtual environments.
• Challenge America provides support for projects that
extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations.
• Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections supports
The program features an abbreviated application,
projects in preventive conservation, managing relative
technical assistance for applicants, and grants of
humidity, temperature, light, and pollutants in collection
$10,000.
spaces; providing protective storage enclosures and
systems for collections; and safeguarding collections
• Research Grants in the Arts provides support for
from theft, fire, floods, and other disasters.
investigations of the value or impact of the arts, either
as individual components of the U.S. arts ecosystem or
• Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller
as they interact with each other or with other domains
Institutions support projects to help grantees better
of American life.
preserve and care for their significant humanities
collections.
• Creative Writing Fellowships support published
creative writers of prose (fiction and creative nonfiction)
• Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations
and poetry to enable the recipients to set aside time for
grants expand the scope, reach, and quality of public
writing, research travel, and general career
programs to assist in meeting a community’s needs.
advancement.
• Challenge Grants stimulate and match private
• Translation Projects provides grants to published
donations in support of humanities institutions.
translators to support their projects translating specific
works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages
NEH’s grants database allows searches of recently awarded
into English.
grants by keywords, type of organization, field, and state.
NEA’s grants database allows searches of recently awarded
Additional Resources
grants by keywords, discipline, year, organization, or state.
CRS has a number of products related to grants work, many
of which are listed on the Grants and Federal Assistance
National Endowment for the Humanities
page of the CRS website.
The National Endowment for the Humanities supports
grants for humanities education, research, preservation and
The Assistance Listings page on SAM.gov is the primary
public programs; the creation of regional humanities
source of information on federal assistance programs. The
centers; and the development of humanities programs under
listings include information on eligibility, how to apply, and
the jurisdiction of the state humanities councils. Typically,
matching requirements. Actual funding of specific grant
NEH grants are used to support cultural institutions, such as
programs depends on annual congressional budget
museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public
appropriations.
television and radio, and individual scholars.
Grants.gov provides grant seekers with information on
The Federal/State Partnership program is the largest
competitive federal grant opportunities and how to apply
program in NEH’s budget. Program grants are awarded, by
for them.
formula, to state humanities agencies to increase public
awareness of, access to, and support for the humanities in
Shannon S. Loane, Senior Research Librarian
the United States. Organizations can apply through their
state humanities councils for grant funding through this
IF12561
program.
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Connecting Constituents with Federal Assistance for the Arts and Humanities
Disclaimer
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congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
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