America’s national parks have inspired artists for generations. As the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service commemorate milestone anniversaries in 2015 and 2016, the NEA will award $797,500 to support 33 projects to a special grant initiative called “Imagine Your Parks”, which encourages the American public to celebrate the arts at national parks around the country.

“Imagine Your Parks” grants are awarded through the NEA Art Works grant category to projects in which the arts engage people with memorable places and landscapes of the National Park System. The National Park System includes not only national parks, but also national historic sites, trails, rivers, seashores, landmarks and national monuments, heritage areas, preserves, battlefields, recreation areas, and more.

“The ‘Imagine Your Parks’ program is a testament to the commitment of the National Park Service and the National Endowment for the Arts to celebrate and protect America’s national and cultural treasures,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “’Imagine Your Parks’ unites our missions by introducing a new generation to our National Parks and connecting art projects with the natural, historic and cultural settings of the National Park System. Through this grant program we will see new commissioned art works created specifically for these special places, like a new dance by the troupe BANDALOOP to be performed in Yosemite National Park, and a new exhibition series on civil rights heroines in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic site. We encourage the American public to take part in ‘Imagine Your Parks’ projects, and experience our nation’s great heritage.”

“These grants build on a strong tradition of the arts in national parks, from the first stunning photographs of Yosemite and Yellowstone more than a century ago, to artists-in-residence and other programs in parks today,” said NPS Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “Inviting a new generation of artists to explore the meaning and majesty of national parks is a great way to celebrate the National Park Service Centennial, and to inspire more Americans of all backgrounds to connect with these remarkable places.”

Imagine Your Parks Grants

“Imagine Your Parks” grants support art projects that encourage the creation of and greater public engagement with art about the National Park System. The funding encourages partnerships with park areas or programs. “Imagine Your Parks” also supports projects that promote public engagement in urban environments, or that engage younger generations with the National Park System. Projects may take place at and around the National Park System, or may take place elsewhere in the United States with a focus on the work and mission of the National Park Service.

The 33 projects range from a traditional Tlingit Song Writing Workshop with Alaskan students at Glacier Bay National Park, to the Native American Composer Apprentice Project at the Grand Canyon Music Festival, to a special symphony series in St. Louis, Mo., Berkeley, Calif., and Washington, D.C., blending music composition and national park imagery and engaging students in creative workshops inspired by the piece. A full list of the grants is available on the NEA website here.

Information about arts programs in parks can be found online.