Large grant awarded by National Endowment for the Arts to Arkansas Arts Council

Little Rock, Arkansas – The Natural State is about to see a significant increase in the arts.

The National Endowment for the Arts will award the Arkansas Arts Council an $821,300 annual state partnership grant, the organization said on Tuesday.

A large crowd attends the reopening of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.

The Arkansas Arts Council has never before won a grant from the NEA of this magnitude. The money will be utilized to support artistic services and activities all around Arkansas.

“The Arkansas Arts Council’s main mission is to provide funding and support for the arts community for the whole state,” Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism interim secretary Shea Lewis said. “This partnership between the Arkansas Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts proves that the arts community is thriving in Arkansas, and we’re proud to support it.”

The Arkansas Arts Council manages both federal and state money to offer financial aid and state arts grants for initiatives and services benefiting businesses, institutions of higher learning, and creatives in the state of Arkansas.

Grants for arts in education that benefit schools will be funded by the prize.

Additionally, it will assist arts groups in offering artist residencies through in-school, after-school, and summer programs for pre-K through 12th-grade children.

“This is an incredible opportunity for the Arkansas Arts Council to make a difference in the arts,” Arkansas Heritage director Jimmy Bryant said.