Photo of the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble courtesy of the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own"

Owen Yeh-Lee provides feedback during a rehearsal of his original song, "Spacetime", as part of the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge. Photo by Rebecca J. Michelson

Participants of an Exit12 program perform at the Intrepid Museum in New York City, supported by a Creative Forces Community Engagement grant. Photo by Alberto Vasari

Participants of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods’ At Ease: Art and Nature for Veterans program in Illinois, supported by a Creative Forces Community Engagement grant. Photo by Ewa Pasek Photography

Students experience rehearsals and performances of Shakespearean scenes as part of the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre’s Shakespeare in American Communities program at the Child Opportunity Zone (COZ). Photo by Jessica Sharpe, Varieur COZ Coordinator

Amy Keum & Katryna Marttala performing "Live Before Life's Gone" by Isabella Nguyen and Maya Johnson during the 2024 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge concert, "Challenge Accepted." Photo by Rebecca J. Michelson

Students visit the Actors’ Shakespeare Project in Watertown, Massachusetts, to see a matinee of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, supported by the NEA’s Shakespeare in American Communities program. Photo by Kelsey Tidball, courtesy of Actors’ Shakespeare Project.

Students participate in KidsRead and KidsWrite Workshops at The Center for Fiction, part of the Mercantile Library Association of the City of New York’s NEA Big Read. Photo courtesy of the Center for Fiction.

Indy Arts Council's "Recovery Start With Us" public awareness campaign. NEA is supporting the expansion of their work to develop and implement arts-based substance use disorder prevention, education, and recovery programs in Marion County, Indiana. Photo by The Basement

Author Sandra Cisneros surrounded by students at an NEA Big Read event at the Just Buffalo Writing Center, a 25-26 NEA Big Read Grantee. Photo by Pat Cray, courtesy of Just Buffalo Literary Center