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The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a United States federally funded and donation assisted program that offers support and funding for projects that exhibit artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current chairman is the poet and former CEO Dana Gioia and it has its offices in the Old Post Office building, in Washington, D.C.

The NEA mission is "to enrich our Nation and its diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country." Its slogan is "Because a great country deserves great art."

Between 1965 and 2003, the agency has made in excess of 119,000 grants. Congress granted the NEA an annual funding of between $160 and $180 million from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. In 1996, Congress cut the NEA funding to $99.5 million (see Chronology of Federal Support to the NEA) as a result of pressure from conservative groups, including the American Family Association, who criticized the agency for using tax dollars to fund highly controversial artists such as Robert Clark Young, Andres Serrano, Robert Mapplethorpe, and the so-called "NEA Four." Since 1996, the NEA has partially rebounded with a 2004 budget of $121 million.^[1]

It offers grants in three areas:

• Art projects
• Leadership initiatives
• Partnership agreements

Additionally, the NEA awards individual fellowships in literature.

The following people have served as Chairs for the National Endowment:

1. Roger L. Stevens, 1965–1969, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson
2. Nancy Hanks, 1969–1977, appointed by Richard M. Nixon
3. Livingston L. Biddle, Jr., 1977–1981, appointed by Jimmy Carter
4. Frank Hodsoll, 1981–1989, appointed by Ronald Reagan.
5. John E. Frohnmayer, 1989–1992, appointed by George H. W. Bush
6. Jane Alexander, 1993–1997, appointed by Bill Clinton
7. Bill Ivey, 1998–2001, appointed by Bill Clinton
8. Michael P. Hammond, 2002, appointed by George W. Bush
9. Dana Gioia, 2003–present, appointed by George W. Bush

• National Endowment for the Humanities
• List of National Medal of Arts winners
• NEA Jazz Masters
• National Council for the Traditional Arts
• New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

• Alexander, Jane. Command Performance: an Actress in the Theater of Politics. Public Affairs, a member of the Perseus Book Group; New York, NY, 2000. ISBN 0306810441
• Binkiewicz, Donna M. Federalizing the Muse: United States Arts Policy and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1965-1980, University of North Carolina Press, 312pp., 2004. ISBN 0-8078-2878-5.

• National Endowment for the Arts website
• Chronology of Federal Support for the Arts (PDF)