Wyoming Arts Council

Happy 50th birthday to the National Endowment for the Arts

Featured News | September 29, 2015

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From the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wyoming Arts Council’s national partner:

When President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) into existence on September 29, 1965, he said, “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”

For the past 50 years, the NEA has been supporting artists and arts organizations that reveal this inner vision. The grants we award have sparked the creation of new artwork; taught generations of children the power of creativity; preserved our artistic heritage; and brought the arts to stages, movie screens, television sets, and public spaces around the country. Through this, the NEA’s history is inextricably linked with the American cultural canon, and has helped shape the diverse cultural landscape this country enjoys today.

As the NEA begins its 50th anniversary celebration, we invite you to join us by celebrating your own relationship with the arts. As President Johnson said 50 years ago, “The arts and the humanities belong to the people, for it is, after all, the people who create them.”

In other words, the arts — and the National Endowment for the Arts — belong to you.

#arts4US

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