NEA Research Grants in the Arts, FY2024 | 2023NEA01ORAGRANTS

Opportunity Information: Apply for 2023NEA01ORAGRANTS

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research Grants in the Arts, FY2024 opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 2023NEA01ORAGRANTS; CFDA 45.024) is a discretionary grant program designed to fund research that examines the value and/or impact of the arts in the United States. The central purpose is to support studies that help explain how the arts function within the broader U.S. arts ecology, either by looking at specific arts components on their own or by studying how the arts interact with other parts of society such as health, education, community life, and the economy. In practical terms, the NEA is looking for research that produces credible, useful evidence about what the arts do, for whom, under what conditions, and with what outcomes.

Applications are expected to align with the NEA's FY 2022-2026 research agenda, which lays out priority topics and sample research questions. While applicants can propose their own questions, the program strongly encourages proposals that map closely to the agenda's framing, and, when possible, that use research questions identical or similar to those sample questions. The agency points applicants to the "Guidelines and Application Instruction" materials for the full agenda, which includes more detail on each topic area and examples of questions that can be adopted or adapted. The emphasis on the agenda signals that the NEA wants projects that contribute to a coordinated body of knowledge, rather than isolated one-off studies.

The program identifies four main research areas. First is the arts' impact on health, education, and the economy, which can include studies exploring outcomes such as well-being, learning, workforce development, or local and regional economic effects tied to arts participation or arts activity. Second is the arts' role in community transformation and healing, a topic that broadly covers how arts and cultural practices can support community resilience, civic connection, place-based change, and recovery from trauma or disruption. Third is diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts, focusing on who gets to create, participate, lead, and benefit, and how systems, practices, and policies may expand or limit equitable access and representation. Fourth is the evolving ecosystem of the arts in the U.S., which can include research on how the arts sector is changing over time, how organizations and artists adapt to new conditions, and how audiences, technologies, and funding structures reshape arts production and participation.

In terms of funding, the grant ceiling is listed as $100,000, indicating that awards may be made up to that amount for a proposed research project. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is arts. The opportunity was created on 2023-01-12, with an original closing date of 2023-03-27. While the listing includes a field for expected awards, it is not specified in the provided source data, so applicants would typically need to consult the official guidelines for any additional context about anticipated award counts, project periods, or other administrative details.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of public and nonprofit institutions that can credibly carry out research. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. Higher education institutions are eligible as both public/state-controlled and private institutions of higher education. Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education) are also eligible. This range of eligible entities suggests the NEA is open to research led by universities, governmental research units, school systems, and nonprofit research and arts organizations, as long as the proposed work clearly fits the program's research purpose and aligns with at least one of the priority areas.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a research-focused NEA program aimed at building evidence about the arts' role in American life, with proposals expected to connect directly to the NEA's multi-year research agenda. Strong applications will typically be those that articulate a clear research question tied to one or more priority topics, demonstrate a rigorous and appropriate study design for answering that question, and show how the findings would add to knowledge that can inform the arts field, communities, and policy discussions.

• The National Endowment for the Arts in the arts sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NEA Research Grants in the Arts, FY2024" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.024.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-01-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-03-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for 2023NEA01ORAGRANTS

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