In its first 50 years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded more than $5 billion in grants to recipients in every state and U.S. jurisdiction, the only arts funder in the nation to do so. Today, the NEA announced awards totaling more than $27.6 million in its first funding round of fiscal year 2016, including an Art Works award of $75,000 to Americans for the Arts to support the Public Art Resource Center (PARC). 

 

The Art Works category supports the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing work, lifelong learning in the arts, and public engagement with the arts through 13 arts disciplines or fields.

 

PARC will be designed to meet the needs of public art practitioners—including artists, public art administrators, and community and urban planners—who are seeking to develop new public art or manage existing public art programs. PARC will centralize widely dispersed information and expert knowledge into a single, searchable online resource. The resource will include national directories; a public art opportunities bulletin board; how-to guides specific to current, core issues in public art administration; and a set of best-practice case studies detailing key topics such as collections management, conservation, evaluation, financing, and community engagement.

 

“This investment from the National Endowment for the Arts is greatly appreciated,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “Public art is helping to connect art with communities around the country. Americans for the Arts supports those working in the field to further the development of public art. This grant will allow us to greatly expand our public art resources, and ultimately advance the arts for all.”  

 

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, “The arts are part of our everyday lives – no matter who you are or where you live – they have the power to transform individuals, spark economic vibrancy in communities, and transcend the boundaries across diverse sectors of society. Supporting projects like the one from Americans for the Arts offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day.” 

 

To join the Twitter conversation about this announcement, please use #NEAFall15. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts.gov. 

 

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.