Celebrating National Arts and Humanities Month 

October is National Arts and Humanities Month, a time to celebrate those feats of inspiration and observation that connect us to the past and to each other in the here and now, illuminating the diversity and the unity of our shared human experience. As individuals, as Americans, we look to our books, our films, our poetry and novels, our museum shelves and gallery walls, our stages and auditoriums, our libraries and scholars, to know and explore what it means to be human and what it means to be American. 

National Arts and Humanities Month is a chance to celebrate this cultural bounty, a natural asset and national treasure that deserves our recognition and continued appreciation. As President Joseph R. Biden said in a White House proclamation, “During National Arts and Humanities Month, we celebrate the artists and scholars who lift us up, speak to our souls, and shape who we are as a Nation.”

At the National Endowment for the Humanities, we are extending our grantmaking to empower underserved communities to add their stories to the American Tapestry. In Uvalde, Texas, we have supported an archive to preserve the memory of a national outpouring of sympathy for victims of a school shooting. Nationwide, NEH emergency grants have rushed in following natural disasters to shore up cultural institutions in crisis. Meanwhile, our longstanding support continues for local programs for families and veterans, for scholarly projects, for public programs, and for ongoing efforts to preserve and tell our national story.

NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo) said in a statement, “The humanities have the power to revitalize endangered languages, to enrich our understanding of climate change, and to strengthen our democracy. The humanities help us to remember the forgotten and cherish our lives together. During National Arts and Humanities Month, let us take note and lift up these important, fundamental ways of learning and imagining.”

Join NEH and our fellow cultural agencies the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) as we celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month. Follow us online at NEHgov on social media and join the conversation at #NAHM2024. 

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