Title: Public Funding for the Arts, 2018 | Grantmakers in the Arts
Headings: Public Funding for the Arts, 2018
Public Funding for the Arts, 2018
2018 Funding Levels
Trends over Time
Looking Ahead
Implications for Grantmaking
Grantmaking by Award Size and Distribution
Complementary Roles

Content: These dollars are not operating support for individual arts organizations, but they help enable state arts agencies and local arts agencies to make investments in operating support by increasing the total dollars agencies have available for grants and services (table 1). Outside of operating support, it is possible to compare a few other grant categories and activity types. Foundations, states, and the NEA all make investments in museums and arts education. A key contrast between public and private sectors is investment in capital construction and physical infrastructure. The NEA does not provide funding for capital construction, and relatively few state arts agencies make grants for facilities. Foundations bear the load for funding physical cultural infrastructure in the United States. Another challenging topic for grantmakers is investment in individual artists and fellowships. 5 The NEA makes a few selected investments in individual artists through National Heritage Fellows, Jazz Masters, and Literature Fellowships but otherwise is statutorily restricted from awarding grant funds to individual artists. Many state arts agencies devote a portion of their grants to individual artists. 6 In FY2017, state arts agencies made 2,402 awards to individual artists.