National Endowment for the Arts: Difference between revisions

The '''National Endowment for the Arts''' ('''NEA''') is an independent agency of the [[United States federal government]] that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence.<ref name=aboutus>{{cite web|url=http://www.nea.gov/about/index.html|author=National Endowment for the Arts|title=About Us|access-date=March 13, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901102346/http://www.nea.gov/about/index.html|archive-date=September 1, 2006}}</ref> It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government by an act of the [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]], signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965 ([[20 U.S.C.]] 951).<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S.C. Title 20 - EDUCATION|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2018-title20/html/USCODE-2018-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec951.htm|access-date=October 2, 2020|website=www.govinfo.gov}}</ref> It is a sub-agency of the [[National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities]], along with the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]], the [[Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities]], and the [[Institute of Museum and Library Services]].

The NEA  has its offices in Washington, D.C. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, as well as the Special Tony Award in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/winners.html |title=The 2016 Tony Awards: Winners |access-date=June 14, 2016}}</ref> In 1985, the NEA won an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its work with the American Film Institute in the identification, acquisition, restoration and preservation of historic films.<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Endowment for the Arts wins Honorary Oscar|url=https://www.oscars.org/search/site/national%20endowment%20for%20the%20arts}}</ref> In 2016 and again in 2017, the National Endowment for the Arts received Emmy nominations from the Television Academy in the Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series category.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/national-endowment-arts-united-states-arts|title = National Endowment for the Arts: United States of Arts}}</ref>

The National Endowment for the Arts was created during the term of President Lyndon B. Johnson under the general auspices of the Great Society. According to historian Karen Patricia Heath, "Johnson personally was not much interested in the acquisition of knowledge, cultural or otherwise, for its own sake, nor did he have time for art appreciation or meeting with artists."<ref>Karen Patricia Heath,  "Artistic scarcity in an age of material abundance: President Lyndon Johnson, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Great Society liberalism." ''European Journal of American Culture'' 36.1 (2017): 5-22. [https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:648dbe27-79fa-4a83-abef-64a4f656619d/download_file?safe_filename=KHeath_EJAC_2017.pdf&file_format=application%2Fpdf&type_of_work=Journal+article online]</ref>