National Endowment for the Arts

#DYK arts and cultural industries contributed $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2023? That's 4.2% of the Gross Domestic Product! Read more about new data from the Arts & Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), a product of the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on our website. https://bit.ly/4lfcjpV #artseconomy #culturaleconomy #USeconomy #acpsa

Five Ways of Looking at Inspiration with Photographer Muriel Hasbun Photography has the ability to freeze a fleeting moment, visually fixing a particular place and time in a single, immutable frame. Photographer Muriel Hasbun, on the other hand, has managed to expand her art form in such a way that her pieces move beyond mere moments, instead encapsulating entire family histories, diasporas, and cultural movements. Hasbun uses her work to explore her family’s unusual lineage and the tensions of her native El Salvador, often mixing historic photographs with multiple exposures to evoke the many layers of her personal story.    Hasbun, a former Fulbright Scholar whose work has been exhibited around the world, spoke with the National Endowment for the Arts back in 2013 on how inspiration figures into her career. Today, we're revisiting her reflections to offer you five bits of wisdom on the different ways of looking at inspiration.    WORK HARD. "I think that bodies of work, or some sort of insight, usually come because you’ve been toiling away for a long time, and consistently. It’s a process of figuring out what your sources are, figuring out what it is that you’re trying to say—a lot of play and a lot of work." BE PATIENT. "I work over time. Nothing comes quickly. It seems that my process is one where I’m collecting these different little hints that I get as I progress." PAY ATTENTION. "It's a combination of being open, being alert to those particular things that you’re doing and that you’re paying attention to, how it is that you’re making things, and then connecting them. In that connection, something that you never imagined comes about." LOOK WITHIN. "Finding the subject of what the artwork will be is perhaps the hardest thing for an artist to figure out. It really entails getting to know oneself." EXPERIMENT."There was this whole issue of who am I to different people, and how is it that I can reconcile what it means to be Jewish and Arab and Latina and having grown up in El Salvador and being trilingual. My work became the place where I started to experiment and answer those questions."   (IMAGE: "¿Sólo una sombra?/ Only a Shadow? (Faiga)", 1994, part of Muriel Hasbun’s Saints and Shadows series. PHOTO © MURIEL HASBUN) #advice #artist #arts #photographer #inspiration #creativity

With the support of a $150,000 NEA grant, Indy Arts Council is teaming up with local arts organizations and substance abuse experts on arts-based projects aimed at preventing and raising awareness of substance abuse. They will also convene an advisory group that will share knowledge and provide case studies for others to use when designing similar programs. Read more about this impactful initiative on our blog!

"One very fundamental thing has not changed, and I realized that it will never change... is that I really need to go home and practice." —Pat Metheny, 2018 NEA Jazz Master On the blog, our Music & Opera Director Ann Meier Baker shares the quotes and advice that have guided her throughout her career: https://bit.ly/3XettK1 In the comments, let us know which words of advice have stuck with you over the years!

The updated National Endowment for the Arts FY26 Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) Guidelines Webinar is now available to view On Demand. Guidelines and applicant resources are available at https://bit.ly/4k8hxDl.

📢 Join us for a webinar on the updated FY26 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines on Tuesday, February 18, 2025 from 2:00-3:00pm ET! Please note: The webinar has moved to a new platform and no registration is required—join here: https://bit.ly/4gAk3iJ Closed captions and ASL will be provided. Please send questions in advance to apply@arts.gov. A recording will be available after the webinar.

“[I]t was something about the way the trumpet resonated, the vibrato…the sound, it sounded human and vocal like to me.” NEA Jazz Master Terence Blanchard joins us on the Art Works podcast for part 1 of a 2-part chat about his musical roots, early years, and working with Spike Lee! Listen: https://lnkd.in/dHARDMeM

Updated guidelines are now available at arts.gov/grants for Grants for Arts Projects with deadlines on 3/11 and 7/10/25. Note for applicants planning to apply to the canceled Challenge America deadline—these projects are also eligible in Grants for Arts Projects. A new GAP webinar will take place 2/18 at 2pm ET. Register at arts.gov/events. (On-demand version available after event.)

“I think I learned more from teaching than my students do, because every time I teach my student, you go back to fundamentals, which only improves me.” Koto musician & NEA National Heritage Fellow June Kuramoto joins us on the Art Works podcast! Listen to the full episode at: https://lnkd.in/ePkCa46j

We're walking into the weekend with THIS energy! What creative activities are on your weekend agenda?