National Council on the Arts


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National Council on the Arts

History and Purpose | Roles and Functions | Council Members

History and Purpose

The National Council on the Arts advises the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who also chairs the Council, on agency policies and programs. It reviews and makes recommendations to the Chairman on applications for grants, funding guidelines, and leadership initiatives.

The Council was established through the National Arts and Cultural Development Act of 1964, a full year before the federal agency was created by Congressional legislation. Its first members were appointed by President Lyndon Johnson and included noted artists such as Marian Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, Agnes de Mille, Richard Diebenkorn, Duke Ellington, Helen Hayes, Charlton Heston, Harper Lee, Gregory Peck, Sidney Poitier, Richard Rodgers, Rosalind Russell, David Smith, John Steinbeck, and Isaac Stern.

The National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965 established the National Endowment for the Arts and provided for 26 citizens to serve as advisors to the agency as members of the National Council on the Arts. Members are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate for six-year, staggered terms. Congress has since enacted legislation that reduced the membership of the Council. Currently, there are 18 members of the National Council on the Arts and an additional six members of Congress to serve in an ex officio,non-voting capacity for two-year terms.

The Presidential appointments, by law, are selected for their widely recognized knowledge of the arts or their expertise or profound interest in the arts. They have records of distinguished service or achieved eminence in the arts and are appointed so as to represent equitably all geographical areas of the country. Congressional members are appointed in the following manner: two by the Speaker of the House, one by the Minority Leader of the House, two by the Majority Leader of the Senate, and one by the Minority Leader of the Senate.

Roles and Functions

The major areas in which the Council advises the agency and its Chairman are:

Applications for Federal grant funds recommended by advisory panels;
Guidelines outlining funding categories, objectives, and eligibility;
Leadership initiatives and partnership agreements with other agencies;
Agency budget levels, allocations, and funding priorities;
Policy directions involving Congressional legislation and other issues of importance to the arts nationally.

The Council also recommends individuals and organizations to receive the National Medal of Arts, a Presidential award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the arts in America.

Currently, Council meetings are convened for one-day sessions three times per year, usually on Fridays in March, July, and November. Meetings are held at the Nancy Hanks Center/Old Post Office Building in Washington, DC, and are open to the public. The day before the Council meeting, members are briefed by staff about the pending grant applications that they will consider, as well as the deliberations of the advisory panels that reviewed them. These informational sessions are closed to the public. Agendas are posted on the Web site.