One January 10, 2023, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced its first round of recommended awards for fiscal year 2023, with more than $34 million in funding to support the arts nationwide. 17 Arizona-based arts organizations/programs and two literary artists are among the grantees. This is the first of the NEA’s two major grant announcements each fiscal year and includes grants to organizations through the NEA’s Grants for Arts Projects, Challenge America, and Research Awards categories. This announcement also includes grants to individuals for Literature Fellowships in creative writing (poetry) and translation.

“Together, these grants show the NEA’s support nationwide for strengthening our arts and cultural ecosystems, providing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contributing to the health of our communities and our economy,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “I encourage everyone to explore these projects and the ways they help provide inspiration, understanding, and opportunities for us to live more artful lives.”

Grants to Arizona organizations and artists total of $380,000.

Challenge America Grants

Challenge America grants are awarded in all artistic disciplines to reach historically underserved communities that have rich and dynamic cultural identities. Grants are all $10,000 and require a cost share/match of at least one to one.

Arizona Theatre Matters, Glendale, AZ
$10,000

Opportunity Tree, Phoenix, AZ
$10,000

Challenge America may be a good entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding. The next Challenge America application deadline is Thursday, April 27, 2023. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources. A webinar about this grant opportunity will take place on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at 3:00 pm ET.

Grants for Arts Projects

This grant program covers a wide variety of projects in 15 artistic disciplines and fields, supporting public engagement with, and access to, various forms of art across the nation; the creation of excellent art; learning in the arts at all stages of life; and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life.

Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000 and require a cost share/match of at least one to one.

East Valley Children’s Theatre, Mesa, AZ
$10,000

CALA Alliance, Phoenix, AZ
$18,000

Childsplay, Inc., Tempe, AZ
$15,000

Cultural Coalition, Inc., Phoenix, AZ
$10,000

Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts, Wickenburg, AZ
$10,000

Detour Company Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
$15,000

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, AZ
$20,000

Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ
$20,000

Phoenix Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
$10,000

Rogue Theatre, Tucson, AZ
$10,000

Scottsdale Arts, Scottsdale, AZ
$45,000

Sonoran Art Foundation, Tucson, AZ
$15,000

Southwest Folklife Alliance, Tucson, AZ Grants
$50,000

Western Jazz Presenters Network, Oro Valley, AZ
$25,000

The next Grants for Arts Projects application deadlines are Thursday, February 9 and Thursday, July 6, 2023. Visit arts.gov for guidelines and application resources.

Literature Fellowships

Creative Writing Fellowships are for published creative writers and very competitive, with nearly 1,900 applications received this year. These FY 2023 fellowships are in poetry and enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career development.

Translation Fellowships support the translation of literary prose, poetry, and drama from writers around the world into English, broadening access to these writers and their stories.

Louis, Bojan, Tucson, AZ
$25,000
Creative Writing – Literary Arts

Luna, Ilana, Phoenix, AZ
$20,000
Translation Projects – Literary Arts

The next deadline for Creative Writing Fellowships is Wednesday, March 8, 2023. In 2023, the NEA is accepting applications in prose. The next deadline for Translation Fellowships is Thursday, January 12, 2023.


Banner photo courtesy of The Loft Cinema, photo by JesseJ.Media