“. . . Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.” (Excerpted from the original legislation that created the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act.)
(PNAN-DC) – They hit 45 year mark on this Earth, Wednesday, November 29, thanks not only to President Lyndon Johnson, who signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act which formed the National Endowment for the Arts, but also all those who played a key role in the conception. “Creativity is the source of successful, thriving American communities,” said Chairman Rocco Landesman. “The National Endowment for the Arts is doing its part to enhance the liveability of American communities through the arts.”
The Arts Endowment is the largest, annual, national grantmaker in the arts, awarding more than $100 million annually, and investing in every state. The NEA is the agency of record on arts where thought leaders put the arts at the center of discussions on education, the economy, technology, and creative placemaking, or how the arts make more liveable, sustainable communities.
The importance of imagination and creative are compiled in this reported compendium of statistics about the NEA and the arts and culture it supports:
Total dollar amount of NEA grants awarded to nonprofit organizations in 45-year history: $4 billion (130,000 grants).
Economic activity generated by the nonprofit arts sector each year: $166 billion.
Number of cities participating in NEA’s Mayor’s Institutes on City Design since 1986: 600.
Average ratio of matching funds to NEA awards: 7:1.
Rate at which arts participants volunteer compared to non-participants: 2:1.
Languages translated into English through NEA Literature Translation Fellowships: 61.
Most recent estimate of languages spoken worldwide: 6,909.
Most common full-time arts profession: graphic designer.
Most common volunteer performing arts activity: choral singer.
Rank of education as a primary influence on arts participation: #1.
Percentage of Internet users who watch, listen to, or download art at least once a week: 30.
Average cumulative audience per broadcast for the NEA-supported television program Great Performances: 2.3 million.
Average time Americans age 15-24 spent watching TV daily: 2 hours.
Average time spent reading for pleasure daily: 7 minutes.
Rank of poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, as selected by students competing in the 2006 Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest: #1.
Average time to create a three-foot traditional rug by NEA National Heritage Fellow and seventh-generation weaver Irvin Trujillo: 50 days.
Average production time to machine-weave three feet of polyester fabric: 2 minutes.
Percentage of American recipients of the National Book Awards, National Book Critics Circle Awards, and Pulitzer Prizes in fiction and poetry who have received NEA Creative Writing Fellowships: 58.
Number of cities to hold community-wide readings of To Kill a Mockingbird through The Big Read: 130.
For more information, including all what they have to offer in more in depth, see: www.nea.gov. NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. They serve all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities and military bases.
Birthdays require a self-acknowledgement of what we have done to ensure where we desire to go, or as Lucille Ball once said, “The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age,” however for the National Endowment for the Arts, no signs of age because they remain pro-active in their small steps as well as their great leaps for the Arts.