Message from NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson

National Endowment for the Arts,
17 January 2025, USA

Greetings and Happy New Year.

January 20th marks my last day as Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve as Chair of the NEA and to contribute to and build upon the NEA’s rich history and many accomplishments in serving the American people.

I believe deeply in the NEA’s mission to ensure that all people in the United States have access to and benefit from the arts and arts education. The arts animate the soul of our nation. Participation in the arts provides opportunities to make sense of the world, ask important questions, and imagine new possibilities. The arts help us heal, bridge, connect, and thrive. They fuel our democracy and our economy. In my travels, from Caguas, Puerto Rico to Bethel, Alaska, and across countless conversations with local leaders, I have witnessed this firsthand. To my core, I continue to believe that we cannot live up to our promise as a nation of opportunity and justice without the full and intentional integration of the arts into all aspects of our lives, all areas of policy and practice, and the systems we rely on to care for each other.

During my time as Chair, with talented staff and dedicated partners, I have lifted up the importance of living artful lives. Together, we have increased appreciation for the hard work, growth, and joy inherent in creative process and advanced our understanding of the value of the arts and their centrality to all aspects of our lives and wellbeing. We have strengthened, advanced, and seeded work consistent with these concepts in urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities across the nation.

With deep appreciation for all of you—the individuals and organizations that have contributed to the significant contributions of the NEA over the last few years—I summarize some of our key accomplishments in the hopes that you’ll share in the immense pride I feel about our work together and feel inspired about what’s possible. For me, these are some of the highlights:

Bolstered the NEA’s work across sectors, integrating the arts into other parts of the federal government and beyond. 

  • Co-convened a first-of-its-kind national summit, “Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities,” with the White House Domestic Policy Council. This convening, developed in collaboration with philanthropic partners, set forth a national vision about how arts organizations and artists contribute to the health and well-being of individuals and communities, invigorate physical spaces, fuel democracy, and drive equitable outcomes—a vision that we have already seen take root across the country, strengthening exemplary programs and animating new initiatives. 
  • Convened a new Interagency Working Group on Arts, Health, and Civic Infrastructure with the Department of Health and Human Services to foster exchanges of insights and information about arts and cultural resources and strategies across federal agencies. To date, more than 20 federal agencies and entities have joined this group. 
  • Expanded NEA collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on efforts to strengthen protections for artists and arts organizations in disasters as well as bolster resilience and recovery through arts-based strategies. 
  • Worked closely with our sister agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities, on showcasing the importance of history, storytelling, and culture as critical to a healthy democracy as well as on efforts with the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Championed arts and culture as a core part of well-being, belonging, and thriving communities. 

  • Launched a new Arts, Health, and Well-being initiative including support for nine demonstration projects and funding to state arts agencies through the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies for projects that address the health and well-being of individuals and communities. This is informed by the NEA’s longstanding work in arts and health, such as the Creative Forces initiative—a partnership with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that is helping to improve the quality of life of our nation’s military-connected individuals, which was also expanded during this administration. 
  • Awarded more than $12 million in grants as part of the ArtsHERE initiative to help address disparities in arts engagement and participation. Working in partnership with South Arts and the other U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, and Creative West), ArtsHERE is bringing grantees together for knowledge sharing, learning, and capacity building. The initiative will also deliver insights about how funders can be more effective. 
  • Unlocked $2.5 million for arts organizations through a collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and CDC Foundation on engaging the arts to build vaccine confidence
  • Increased funding and offerings available to rural and urban communities through the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and the Our Town program. These programs help make arts and design resources accessible to address local needs and opportunities in a wide range of communities.

Expanded and strengthened the functions of the NEA as grantmaker, convener, connector, information provider, and catalyst, as well as strategic partner with other public and private funders. 

  • Launched the new National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center (NASERC) to provide the public with frequently updated statistics on the health and vitality of the arts in the United States. NASERC will monitor the U.S. arts ecosystem across four domains: artists and other cultural workers, arts participation, arts and cultural assets, and arts and education. 
  • Worked closely with state, regional, and local partners as part of a better coordinated public funding infrastructure for the arts and strengthened connection with philanthropic colleagues. 
  • Supported Local Arts Agencies through the American Rescue Plan, research studies, and the creation of a Local Arts Agency Network that will be launched later this year. 
  • Strengthened relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as Minority-Serving Institutions through focused research, site visits, and enhanced connection. 
  • Established the NEA’s Office of Native Arts and Tribal Affairs. 
  • Reinforced the NEA as a learning organization, encouraging curiosity, imagination, and proximity to the field.

Celebrated and strengthened support for the many roles of the arts and artists in society. 

  • Buoyed the arts community in its recovery from the pandemic through $135 million in additional grants made possible by the American Rescue Plan (ARP). 
  • Helped support the ongoing recovery of performing arts communities through convenings, research, reports, and enhanced grant guidelines as the field forges a new path forward. 
  • Celebrated 32 recipients of the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor in the arts. Recipients included Vera Wang, Carrie Mae Weems, Judy Baca, Ken Burns, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Mark Bradford, Flaco Jimenez and others. 
  • Doubled the award amount, starting in 2026, for the National Heritage Fellowships and Jazz Masters, as well as the Creative Writing Fellowships. 
  • Broadened awareness of artists’ needs and issues related to art making, notably including consideration of “artistic process” in our grantmaking guidelines. 
  • Reinforced our commitment to wage protections and collaborated with the Department of Labor to lift up artists as workers.

These efforts to expand our ability to meet mission exist alongside and integrated with the impact of the more than 2,500 grants and cooperative agreements the NEA awards each year, funding the arts in all 50 states and six U.S. jurisdictions, including rural and urban areas.

For nearly six decades the NEA has been at the core of our nation’s cultural life, and it continues to be championed by lawmakers from both Congressional chambers and both sides of the aisle for the many cultural, social, educational, health, and economic benefits that the arts provide to communities across the country.

As I look back on my tenure as Chair of the NEA, I am filled with gratitude for the experience and the honor of working alongside a dedicated and talented team of public servants committed to ensuring all Americans can benefit from the arts. I am grateful to have worked with an administration that believes in the power of the arts, demonstrated by the largest-ever increase in the NEA’s budget, an historic Executive Order on arts integration, and consistent recognition of artists and artistry at the White House. This has been an affirming journey full of joy, wonder, and inspiration, and I am hopeful for the future of the arts in America. Thank you for your enduring support for the National Endowment for the Arts.

With gratitude,
Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD

https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2025/message-nea-chair-maria-rosario-jackson