Our Town invests in creative and innovative projects in which communities, together with their arts and design organizations and artists, are looking to increase their livability.

Blue Star Museums is a partnership among Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts, and more than 1500 museums in all 50 states to offer free admission to military personnel and their families from Memorial Day, May 31, 2010, through Labor Day, September 6, 2010.

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, this program encourages high school students to memorize and perform great poems.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literature in American popular culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens.

The NEA Jazz Initiative grew out of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships program and offers educational and performance-based programs revolving around these legendary musicians.

Shakespeare in American Communities is the largest theatrical tour of Shakespeare in our nation's history. The tour will bring professional productions of Shakespeare to more than 100 small and mid-sized communities in all 50 states and 16 military bases.

The NEA and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center have formed the Healing Arts Partnership to explore and promote the use of creative arts therapy and arts engagement programs in military healthcare settings.

Beginning in 2011, the NEA has convened a Federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development to encourage more and better research on how the arts can help people reach their full potential at all stages of life. Task force members represent multiple units across federal government.

From October 2005 through August 2006, Great American Voices will feature 24 professional opera companies performing at 39 military bases across the country.