NEA Grants for Arts Projects 2026 (US)

Objectives

• Through project-based funding, Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) supports an expansive range of arts activities to strengthen the nation’s arts and culture ecosystem.
• These activities may include opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.

Focus Areas

• They are particularly interested in arts projects that:
  • Enable artists, arts workers, and arts organizations to thrive, including projects that:
    • Build organizational capacity and provide leadership development;
    • Provide direct compensation to artists, makers, art collectives, and/or arts workers for their participation;
    • Lead to a better understanding of and response to opportunities and risks that may impact organizational effectiveness and artists’ livelihoods (e.g., national emergencies, natural disasters, emergent technology, etc.);
    • Support existing and new technology-centered creative practices across all artistic disciplines and forms, including work that explores or reflects on the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that are consistent with valuing human artistry and improve the public’s awareness of understanding of the responsible use of AI;
    • Include investment in an organization’s capacity to serve the public by providing access, training, and other resources to engage with digital technologies.
• Celebrate the nation’s history, civic life, and community connection including projects that:
  • Celebrate the nation’s wide range of creativity by honoring the semiquincentennial of the United States of America (America 250). Projects may engage communities in dialogue about the past, present, and future of their nation—including activities that examine the work of American artists, develop public art recognizing the country’s milestone; and explore a wide range of narratives related to freedom and unity through the arts.
  • Use artistic and creative practices to support individuals and groups in telling their story to foster mutual understanding;
  • Engage in arts and cultural practices to overcome social isolation or loneliness.
• Support the health and well-being of people and communities through the arts, including projects that:
  • Facilitate cross-sector collaborations between the arts and other disciplines, sectors, and industries to strengthen a community’s civic infrastructure;
  • Foster belonging and social connection as a means toward improved health and wellbeing.
• Originate from or are in collaboration with the following constituencies encouraged by White House Executive Orders:
  • Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  • Tribal Colleges and Universities
  • American Indian and Alaska Native tribes
  • Predominantly Black Institutions
  • Hispanic Serving Institutions
  • Asian American and Pacific Islander communities,
  • Organizations that support the independence and lifelong inclusion of people with disabilities.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $ 62,245,000
• Award Ceiling: $150,000
• Award Floor: $10,000

Eligible Projects

• Projects may be small, medium, or large, and may take place in any part of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. jurisdictions.
• A project may consist of one or more specific events or activities; it may be a new initiative or part of your organization’s regular season or activities.
• Organizations that undertake a single short-term program in a year may apply for that event, or may choose to identify certain components of that program as their project.
• Organizations may apply for any or all phases of a project, from planning through implementation.
• A project should not encompass all of an organization’s activities or costs in a given year.
• The NEA does not fund general operating support or a full season of programming.
• They welcome applications from first-time and returning applicants; from organizations serving rural, urban, suburban, and tribal communities of all sizes; and from organizations with small, medium, or large operating budgets.

Ineligible Costs

• Cash reserves and endowments.
• Costs for the creation of new organizations.
• Costs to bring a project into compliance with federal grant requirements. This includes environmental or historical assessments or reviews and the hiring of individuals to write assessments or reviews or to otherwise comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and/or the National Historic Preservation Act.
• Expenditures related to compensation to foreign nationals and/or travel to or from foreign countries when those expenditures are not in compliance with regulations issued by the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control.
• Project costs supported by any other federal funding. This includes federal funding received either directly from a federal agency (e.g., National Endowment for the Humanities, Housing and Urban Development, National Science Foundation, or an entity that receives federal appropriations such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or Amtrak); or indirectly from a pass-through organization such as a state arts agency, regional arts organization, or a grant made to another entity
• Alcoholic beverages.
• Purchase and/or use of gift cards, gift certificates, or other cash equivalents to support project costs.
• Gifts and prizes, including cash prizes as well as other items (e.g., electronic devices, gift certificates) with monetary value.
• Stipends/fees to individuals who are incarcerated.
• Contributions and donations to other entities, including donation drives.
• General miscellaneous or contingency costs.
• Fines and penalties, bad debt costs, deficit reduction.
• Marketing expenses that are not directly related to the project.
• Audit costs that are not directly related to a single audit (formerly known as an A-133 audit).
• Rental costs for home office workspace owned by individuals or entities affiliated with the applicant organization.
• The purchase of vehicles.
• Visa costs paid to the U.S. government.
• Costs incurred outside of the approved period of performance.

Ineligible Activities

• General operating support, or support for a full season of programming.
• Direct grants to individuals.
• Direct grants to individual elementary or secondary schools – charter, private, or public, or booster clubs and similar organizations dedicated to supporting individual elementary or secondary schools.
• Projects that replace or supplant arts instruction provided by an arts specialist.
• Generally, courses/coursework in degree-granting institutions.
• Literary publishing that does not focus on contemporary literature and/or writers.
• Generally, publication of books, exhibition of works, or other projects by the applicant organization’s board members, faculty, or trustees.
• Generally, exhibitions of, and other projects that primarily involve, single, individuallyowned, private collections.
• Projects for which no curatorial, juried, or editorial judgment has been applied to the selection of artists or art works.
• Costs of entertainment, including amusement, diversion, and social activities such as receptions, parties, galas, community dinners, picnics, and potlucks. Generally, this also includes activities at venues such as bars, wineries, and breweries where the consumption of alcohol/social activity is the primary purpose of the venue.
• Awards to individuals or organizations to honor or recognize achievement.
• Commercial (for-profit) enterprises or activities, including arts markets, concessions, food, T-shirts, artwork, or other items for resale. This includes online or virtual sales/shops.
• Lobbying, including activities intended to influence the outcome of elections or influence government officials regarding pending legislation, either directly or through specific lobbying appeals to the public.
• Voter registration drives and related activities.
• Construction, purchase, or renovation of facilities or the purchase of land. Design fees, preparing space for an exhibit, installation or de-installation of art, and community planning are allowable.
• Subgranting or regranting, except for local arts agencies that meet the NEA’s eligibility criteria for subgranting.

Eligibility Criteria

• The following are eligible to apply:
  • Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations;
  • Units of state or local government;
  • Federally recognized tribal communities or tribes.
  • To be eligible, the applicant organization must:
  • Meet the NEA’s Legal Requirements including non-profit, tax-exempt status at the time of application.
  • Have an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM), and have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), at the time of application. Applicants must maintain an active SAM registration until the application process is complete and throughout the life of an award.
  • Have completed a three-year history of arts programming prior to the application deadline.
  • Programming may have taken place prior to when the organization incorporated or received non-profit, tax-exempt status.
    • Applicants will provide examples of previous programming in the application.
    • For applicants to the February 2025 GAP1 cycle, programming must have started in or before February 2022.
    • For applicants to the July 2025 GAP2 cycle, programming must have started in or before July 2022.
  • Programming is not required to have taken place during consecutive years.
  • Organizations that previously operated as a program of another institution may include arts programming it carried out while part of that institution for its three year history.

Ineligibility Criteria

• The following are not eligible to apply:
  • Individuals;
  • Commercial and for-profit enterprises;
  • Applications using a fiscal sponsor/agent (organizations must apply directly on their own behalf);
  • State and jurisdictional arts agencies (SAAs), and Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs). SAAs and RAOs may serve as partners in projects; however, they may not receive NEA funds through GAP.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.