Stories
Apart from financially supporting arts activities throughout the country, the National Endowment for the Arts fosters greater appreciation and understanding of the arts among the American people. All Americans can benefit from knowing about the presence and contributions of artists, artistic practices, and arts organizations in their communities, and about opportunities to participate in the arts. The agency presents stories about artists, arts organizations, and arts events all over the country through our blog, audio podcast interviews, videos, and magazine. Click on links below to go to our blog, podcast, or magazine, or click this button to search for specific material.
Featured Story
For its recent National Council on the Arts meeting, the Arts Endowment visited Western North Carolina, an area known for being an arts hub. Following Hurricane Helene, there were widespread impacts, from the destruction of studios and galleries to disruptions in operations (such as access to supplies or loss of artwork ), and a decline in tourism and foot traffic.
This visit to Western North Carolina was an opportunity to further explore and spread awareness about the impact of natural disasters on the arts sector as well as how the arts can be incorporated into recovery and revitalization efforts, strengthening local economies, and supporting the health and well-being of impacted individuals and communities.
At Marshall High Studios, artist Lauren Rutten shares the photos she took in Marshall during the recovery process, which she then embellished in gold leaf in the style of Kintsugi, a Japanese method of repairing broken ceramics. The pieces will be combined with writing responses from community members into a book called Save This Piece. She shares a studio with multidisciplinary artist Kerstin Davis. Photo by Andy Wickstrom, andywickstrom.com