$36 million from NEA to support the arts nationwide
S.C. gets 11 project, research, and fellowship grants
This morning, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced 1,474 awards totaling $36,790,500 to support the arts in communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.
Funding for organizations is recommended in the categories of Grants for Arts Projects, Challenge America, Research Grants in the Arts, and Research Labs, and for individuals through Literature Fellowships in creative writing and for translation projects.
“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place—those that address our past and help us consider our future, integrate arts and culture in new ways into our lives and communities, and provide powerful opportunities for people throughout our nation to come together through a shared arts experience.”
There are multiple ways to search the grants included in this announcement:
Each year, the NEA assembles panels of experts and knowledgeable laypeople with relevant expertise and experience to review NEA applications and rate them in accordance with published review criteria. More than 340 panelists reviewed the eligible applications for this round of funding. Recommendations were then presented to the National Council on the Arts. The council made its recommendations to the NEA Chair, who made the final decision on all grant awards. Learn more about the grant review process or volunteer to be a panelist.
(Homepage image: the Charleston Symphony Orchestra performing Handel’s Messiah in 2019. Hub archive photo.)
Grant categories
There were 11 grants awarded in South Carolina totaling $330,000.
“Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts are prestigious and known to be quite an undertaking for applicants. The South Carolina Arts Commission congratulates our artists, arts organizations, and two government entities on the honor of these significant awards. Residents and visitors of our state will benefit from the work they will fund,” SCAC spokesman Jason Rapp said.
Grants for Arts Projects
Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) provides expansive funding opportunities to strengthen the nation’s arts and cultural ecosystem, including 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.
The National Endowment for the Arts received 2,195 eligible Grants for Arts Projects applications this round, which were submitted in February 2024. The NEA will award 1,127 grants for a total of $31,825,500 to support arts projects in 15 artistic disciplines and fields. All grants require a nonfederal cost share/match of at least 1 to 1.
South Carolina grantees, and the projects, include:
- Charleston Symphony Orchestra was awarded $30,000 to support a professional development and mentorship program focused on advancing talented individuals from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in classical music.
- The city of Charleston was awarded $50,000 to support the development of new performing arts projects in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
- The South Carolina Philharmonic in Columbia received $20,000 to support a family-centered sensory-sensitive orchestra performance and interactive concert series.
- Greenville Center for Creative Arts received $25,000 to support a professional development program for emerging artists.
- The Lancaster County Council for the Arts was awarded $25,000 to support the design and installation of public art along the Lindsay Pettus Greenway in Lancaster County.
- In Spartanburg, Hub City Writers Project is getting a $25,000 award to help underwrite the publication and promotion of books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
- The Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded $25,000 for a commissioning and performance project.
This year’s Grants for Arts Projects application deadlines are Thursday, February 13, 2025, and Thursday, July 10, 2025. Each discipline has outlined their broader arts ecosystem, the types of projects they encourage, and guidance on characteristics of competitive proposals. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources, including an on demand video of the FY 2026 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines webinar.
Challenge America
Challenge America grants are awarded in all artistic disciplines and offer support primarily to small organizations for a wide variety of arts projects that extend the reach of the arts underserved groups and communities that may have limited access to the arts relative to geography, ethnicity, economic status, and/or disability. This includes communities that have limited grant funding opportunities and/or have been underserved by national arts funding; small organizations that may face barriers to accessing grant funding; and organizations that may benefit from enhanced technical assistance resources. This program is often an entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding.
The National Endowment for the Arts reviewed 563 eligible applications for Challenge America funding this year, which were submitted in April 2024, and will award 272 grants for a total of $2,720,000. Each grant is for $10,000 and requires a minimum $10,000 cost share/match.
One Challenge America grant was awarded in South Carolina. Warehouse Theatre in Greenville will support the Applied Theatre program for underserved youth and adults with its funding.
The next Challenge America application deadline is Thursday, April 24, 2025. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources and register for the FY26 Challenge America guidelines webinar on Wednesday, February 27, 2024, from 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET.
Research Awards
The NEA has two research grant opportunities for projects that engage with the NEA’s five-year research agenda.
Research Grants in the Arts supports research studies that investigate the value and/or impact of the arts, either as individual components of the U.S. arts ecosystem or as they interact with each other and/or with other domains of American life. In total, the NEA will award 18 organizations grants totaling $1,045,000.
One research award landed in South Carolina, in Columbia. The University of South Carolina is getting $80,000 to support a mixed-methods pilot study to evaluate a youth visual arts and creative writing summer program designed to support the development of social-emotional skills for elementary school students from high-poverty communities. Additional examples include:
- An award to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh of $80,000 for a study examining university students’ creative practices with artificial intelligence (AI), for the purpose of informing arts-integrative secondary education.
- An award to Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc. (aka High Museum of Art) in Atlanta, of $80,000 to support a mixed-methods study of the relationship between visiting an art museum and individual well-being across various adult populations.
In addition, the NEA also supports NEA Research Labs—these are grounded in the social and behavioral sciences and support transdisciplinary research teams investigating the value and impact of the arts for the benefit of both the arts and non-arts sectors. There are currently 29 active Research Labs.
This year’s Research Labs and Research Grants in the Arts application deadline is Monday March 24, 2025. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources and register for a Research Grants in the Arts webinar on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET.
Literature Fellowships
Fellowships help writers and translators to create new work and thus expand the portfolio of literary art available to American audiences. These fellowships allow recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.
This year’s Creative Writing Fellowships are in poetry. These fellowships are highly competitive, with more than 2,000 eligible applications received for FY 2025. The NEA will award 35 Creative Writing Fellowships of $25,000 each, totaling $875,000. You can read more about the recipients in the Creative Writing Fellowships section of arts.gov. The next deadline for Creative Writing Fellowships is Wednesday, March 12, 2025, and will be for prose (fiction and creative nonfiction).
Su Cho of Pendleton is a recipient this cycle.
The NEA will award Translation Fellowships to 22 translators ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 totaling $325,000 to translate works from 17 languages and 21 countries into English, including books from Guinea, Mali, and the Philippines, countries not previously represented through an NEA fellowship.
One South Carolina poet will benefit from these fellowships. Jeanne M. Garane of Columbia is to receive $15,000 to translate the memoir At Your Service, Commandant! by Malian writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ from the French.
Please note, there may be a delay in the distribution of awards as the NEA and all of the federal government are operating under a continuing budget resolution. For more information on all NEA’s grant opportunities, including 2025 deadlines, and resources for applicants and awardees, including a guide for first-time applicants, visit the Grants section of arts.gov.
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. To learn more, visit arts.gov or follow on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and YouTube.