National Awards for Individuals

National Heritage Fellowships

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) annually awards one-time-only National Heritage Fellowships to master folk and traditional artists. These fellowships recognize lifetime achievement, artistic excellence, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage.

For a list of the Hawai‘i Recipients of the National Heritage Fellowships, click here.

For more information, click on the links for the Lifetime Honors section of the National Endowment for the Arts website.

 

NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships

The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship is the highest honor that our nation bestows upon a jazz musician.

The NEA Jazz Masters fellowship category is not open to application. Fellowships are awarded to living individuals on the basis of nominations from the public including the jazz community. Nominees must have nationally recognized and publicly accessible bodies of work in the field of jazz.

For more information, click on the links for the Lifetime Honors section of the National Endowment for the Arts website.

 

The National Medal of Arts

is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government. The National Medal of Arts is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups who, in his judgment, "...are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States."

This lifetime achievement award recognizes the extraordinary accomplishments of individuals engaged in the creation and production of the arts in the United States.

For more information, click on the links for the Lifetime Honors section of the National Endowment for the Arts website.

 

NEA Opera Honors

For the first time in 25 years Congress has authorized a new award to recognize lifetime achievement and individual excellence, the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors. This award will honor visionaries and luminaries who, by making extraordinary contributions to opera in the United States, have become cultural treasures of this great nation. This honor represents the highest recognition that our nation bestows in opera.

For more information, click on the links for the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors section of the National Endowment for the Arts website.


National Awards for Organizations

National Arts and Humanities Youth Program (formerly Coming Up Taller)

The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities is pleased to present the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards to outstanding after-school programs that are transforming the lives of young people. Programs that receive the award exemplify how arts and humanities programs outside of the regular school day enrich the lives of young people throughout the country by teaching new skills, nurturing creativity, and building self-confidence.

Formerly known as the Coming Up Taller Awards, the NAHYP Awards are offered by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Twelve award-winning programs will be selected and will each receive $10,000 and an invitation to a White House Ceremony. Winners will also receive an award plaque, the opportunity to attend the Annual Awardee Conference in Washington D.C. in the summer of 2013, and will be featured on the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award website.

After-school and out-of-school time arts and humanities programs sponsored by museums, libraries, performing arts organizations; educational institutions (e.g., preschools; elementary, middle, and high schools; universities; and colleges), arts centers, community service organizations, businesses, and eligible government entities are encouraged to consider submitting an application. Programs applying for the award must meet all of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award’s eligibility criteria.

Applications are being accepted for the annual National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. Completed applications will only be accepted via the online process. To apply, go to the NAHYP website at www.nahyp.org/how-to-apply/. Online deadline is Monday, February 4, 2013, 5:00 p.m. PST.

For more information about eligibility criteria, please see the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards website: www.nahyp.org, or contact their staff at (202) 682-5575.