Grant Program Description

We Fund

Through this category the National Endowment for the Arts seeks to make the excellence and diversity of the arts widely available to the American public through nationally distributed television and radio programs.

Grants are available to support the development, production, and national distribution of radio and television programs on the arts. Priority will be given to artistically excellent programs that have the potential to reach a significant national audience, regardless of the size or geographic location of the applicant organization. Only programs of artistic excellence and merit, in both the media production and the subject, will be funded.

Projects may include high profile multi-part television and radio series, single documentaries, performance programs, or arts segments for use within an existing series. Programs may deal with any art form (e.g., visual arts, music, dance, literature, design, theater, musical theater, opera, film/video/audio art, folk & traditional arts). Programs targeted to children and youth are welcome.

All phases of a project -- research and development, production, completion and distribution costs -- are eligible for support. We welcome proposals that include ancillary activities that are intended to increase public knowledge, understanding, and access to the arts. Such activities might include the use of related radio and television programming; interactive Web sites; DVDs or other digital applications; educational material; collaborations with arts organizations, educators, and community groups; video/audio distribution to schools, libraries, and homes; and other public outreach activities.

We Do Not Fund

Under these guidelines, funding is not available for:

• Direct grants to individuals.
• Programs that are intended primarily for local distribution.
• Films/tapes that are produced primarily for non-broadcast distribution (e.g., an instructional video, a film to accompany an exhibition, a theatrical exhibition).
• Documentation or simple recording of performances or events primarily for archival purposes.
• Expenditures that are related to compensation to foreign nationals and artists traveling to or from foreign countries when those expenditures are not in compliance with regulations issued by the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control. For further information, see http://www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/index.html or contact the Arts Endowment's Grants & Contracts Office at grants@arts.gov.

Organizations seeking funding for media projects that are not eligible under these guidelines may want to review the Arts Endowment's Grants for Arts Projects guidelines.

Intended Outcomes

The Arts Endowment, along with other federal agencies, collects information on the projects it funds in order to track the results -- or outcomes -- of its activities. This information is compiled and reported to Congress and the public. The outcome the Arts Endowment intends to achieve through the Arts on Radio and Television category is:

Audiences throughout the nation have opportunities to experience a wide range of art forms and activities.

Within the context of this outcome, we ask all applicants to define what they would like to achieve, how they will assess the degree to which it is achieved, and, upon completion of the project, what they have learned from their successes and failures. This need not entail large-scale or expensive evaluation. Applicants should do what is feasible and appropriate for their organization and project. When a grant is completed, grantees must submit a final report and answer questions on their achievements and how they were gauged. Additional information about outcome-based evaluation may be found in the Outcomes Toolkit.

Deadline Date

Applicants are required to submit their applications electronically through Grants.gov, the federal government’s online application system. The Grants.gov system must receive your application no later than 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on September 5, 2008. The Arts Endowment will not accept late applications.

Please be aware that the Grants.gov Customer Service hours are 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday to Friday.

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506