New England Foundation for the Arts Inc.

NEFA’s vision for our region is a sustainable, inclusive, and connected New England creative economy that is valued by all New England communities. In pursuit of that vision, we work to strengthen the creative community by supporting its visibility, networking and knowledge building -both internally among creatives as well as externally with the broader community. Our primary tool for creative economy network and knowledge-building is CreativeGround (www.CreativeGround.org), the dynamic regional directory that celebrates and reflects the vital work of artists, creatives, culture bearers, and creative organizations and businesses. This free online platform includes community-generated profiles and stories, through which creative people and places describe and showcase a portfolio of their work and uplift their existing collaborators. NEFA maintains the infrastructure and data so that creatives and community leaders are free to create, post, learn, connect, and build their own capacity.

NEFA founded the National Dance Project (NDP) in 1996 to support the creation and touring of new dance projects throughout the United States. Approaching its third decade, NDP is widely recognized as one of the country’s major sources of funding for dance. NDP has invested more than $49 million in funding to artists and organizations to support the creation and touring of new dance projects, as well as other initiatives, including production residencies and regionally focused professional development for dance artists. To date, NDP has supported 442 artists and companies and 878 cultural organizations, helping 788 unique dance projects reach more than 3.4 million audience members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

The National Theater Project (NTP) promotes the development of artist-led, ensemble, and devised theater work while extending their reach through touring. Through its Creation and Touring Grants, NTP directly supports artists and nonprofit organizations in the creation and touring of new theater works around the country. Since its launch in 2010, NTP has distributed funding to artists and presenters, and is one of the few funding sources for devised theater in the country. To date, NTP has funded 108 new works of artist-led, collaborative, ensemble, and devised theater, reaching audiences in 43 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and on multiple international US military bases. Funded ensembles have come from 23 different states as well as Puerto Rico. In addition to the Creation and Touring Grants, NTP supports artists through several initiatives and supplemental grants including regional convenings; cohort meetings; Presentation; Presenter Travel; and Transition grants.

New England Presenting and Touring programs support the presentation of performances,
readings, and film screenings throughout New England, and provide network building to New
England-based presenters and performing artists. Current grantmaking programs include New England
States Touring, which funds the presentation of regional, national and international artists presented by
New England-based nonprofit organizations; and the New England Presenter Travel Fund, which
subsidizes travel costs for New England-based presenters to preview work that they are interested in
bringing back to their community. NEFA is also a partner on the national ArtsHERE initiative, which provides grants for capacity projects at organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to equity within their practices and programming that will strengthen the organization’s capacity to sustain meaningful community engagement and increase arts participation for underserved groups and communities.

NEFA's Public Art programs support the field of public art through grantmaking and field-building collaborations. By investing in artists and a community of practice, NEFA is contributing to the evolving field of public art and inspiring more vibrant public spaces and public life throughout the region. Primary grant making programs currently include Public Art for Spatial Justice (PASJ), Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice (CISJ), the Public Art Learning Fund (PALF), and Making it Public (MIP). NEFA invests in artists and the creative process, cultivates artists as civic leaders, and supports public art that inspires, disrupts, and engages the public sphere to strive for greater equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in our public culture.