ArtsEmerson, Emerson Contemporary, HowlRound Awarded NEA Arts Grants

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded Emerson three grants to support projects by ArtsEmerson, Emerson Contemporary, and HowlRound Theatre Commons, the first time the College has received three awards in the same funding round.

Grants for Arts Projects, the NEA’s largest grants program for organizations, provides funding opportunities to strengthen the nation’s arts and cultural ecosystem. Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000. Emerson’s three projects are among 1,135 projects selected during the second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal 2024 funding, with awards totaling $37 million.

ArtsEmerson was awarded a grant in the Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works category to support the presentation of works by Theater Mitu and Beth Morrison Projects, which disrupt the narrative of the racialized prison system and reimagine our shared future as communal radical action.

Emerson Contemporary will use its grant from the Media Arts category to support an exhibition series showcasing underrepresented artists in new media and digital art and related public programming. The exhibitions will feature New England, national, and international artists, and will examine themes such as the climate crisis, loss, collective trauma, and rituals of mourning. Each show will include robust public program activities, intentional educational outreach, and community engagement initiatives for Greater Boston.

HowlRound Theatre Commons was awarded a grant in the Theater category to support HowlRound’s Latinx Theatre Commons Carnaval of New Latinx Musicals, which will evolve the canon by developing three to six new works of musical theatre by, for, and about Latine communities. The Carnaval will invite Latine and allied decision-makers and scholars to witness, engage with, and become advocates for the featured artists and pieces.

For more information on the projects included in the National Endowment for the Arts grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news. For more information on grants and fellowships at Emerson College, visit the Office of Research & Creative Scholarship (ORCS) Blog.