1a. FY18+ FDR - SAA & RAO - Guidance for Question 10

Purpose: This guidance was created to clarify how grantees should classify their project by the strategic
outcomes/objectives listed for question 10 in the SAA-RAO final descriptive report form.
Description: Question 10 as it appears in the SAA-RAO final descriptive report form reflects an archived
strategic plan. This guidance was created in order to align data collected from this question with the
current strategic plan. Below is the question as it appears in the SAA-RAO FDR form. Following Question
10 are explanations of the outcome options A-E. These explanations include differences in how these
outcomes were defined in the archived strategic plan (FY14) and the current strategic plan (FY18) and
examples of projects that would fall into the outcome categories. Please read through the descriptions
of the strategic outcomes/objectives and the examples of projects that fall into these categories in order
to select the most appropriate strategic outcome associated with the award.
Below is question 10 as it appears in the SAA-RAO FDR form.
10. NEA Primary Strategic Outcome/Objective
Choose one item that best describes the PRIMARY strategic outcome associated with the award. A
detailed description of these outcomes/objectives (except Understanding) is provided at
https://www.arts.gov/grants- organizations/art-works/objectives.
A: Creation: The Portfolio of American Art is Expanded
B: Engagement: Americans Throughout the Nation Experience Art
C: Learning: Americans of All Ages Acquire Knowledge or Skills in the Arts
D: Livability: American Communities are Strengthened Through the Arts
E: Understanding: Public knowledge and understanding about the contributions of the arts are
enhanced. NEA outcome for Understanding: evidence of the value and/or impact of the arts is
expanded and promoted.

A: Creation: The Portfolio of American Art is Expanded
In the FY14 strategic plan, the Creation strategic goal was limited strictly to the development of new art
works. The strategic plan for FY18 broadened the Creation strategic goal to include cultural
infrastructure. Support for cultural infrastructure includes arts sector capacity-building and professional
development, and archiving, documentation, and preservation of artistic traditions and art works. In
order to align the data from question 10 with the FY18 strategic plan, NEA encourages the inclusion of
projects involving cultural infrastructure into this category. Below are examples of projects whose
primary strategic outcome would fall into A: Creation:

Creation of new art works. [Excludes creation of works for other purposes, including
engagement, learning, and livability]
Examples:
• Support to produce new documentary films
• Premieres or new productions
• Commission, development, and/or workshop of new work
• Commissioning of public murals
Arts sector capacity‐building and professional development.

Examples:
• Apprenticeships/mentorships in the arts or arts professions (excludes ac�vi�es in K‐12
education settings but includes young artist training programs)
• Seminars, conferences, and training for arts administrators and/or artists
• Professional Artist Training Programs (including Young
• Artist Programs, Young Artist Development)
• Arts service organization projects
• Artist residencies, when the primary purpose of the residency is to support artist’s
development or creation of new works
Archival, documentation, and preservation.
Examples:
• Identification/documentation for archival or educational purposes
• Oral history interviews with folk artists
• Care of artworks or art collections, including repair, conservation, or restoration

B: Engagement: Americans Throughout the Nation Experience Art
The FY14 and FY18 strategic plans define engagement similarly. Below are examples of projects whose
primary strategic outcome would fall into B: Engagement:

Activities intended to engage people with existing art works or with the arts in general.
Examples:
• Audience services, such as ticket subsidies
• Broadcasting via TV, cable, radio, the Web, or other digital networks
• Concerts/performances of existing works/existing productions (excludes premiere and
new productions)
• Distribution of art, including of films, books, prints
• Exhibitions
• Fairs/festivals that focus on public engagement
• Publications, including exhibit catalogs
• Public awareness activities designed to increase public understanding of the arts or to
build public support for the arts
• Recording/filming/taping, when purpose is to extend the audience for a
performance/work of art and not for archival purposes
• Website/app development, includes the creation or expansion of Web sites, mobile and
tablet applications, the development of digital art collections, interactive services
delivered via the Internet, etc.

C: Learning: Americans of All Ages Acquire Knowledge or Skills in the Arts
The FY14 and FY18 strategic plans define learning similarly. The NEA’s goal is to build public capacity for
lifelong participation in the arts by helping to foster public appreciation and understanding of various art

forms, genres, and artistic traditions. For audiences, the result will be a richer and more complex and
meaningful arts experience. The FY 18 strategic plan goes further to emphasize the importance of
including female students, minority students, English learners, children with disabilities, and low-income
students who often go underrepresented in critical and enriching subjects. NEA encourages grantees to
include projects that support participants’ acquisition of knowledge and skills in the arts,
particularly for communities and groups traditionally underrepresented. Below are examples of projects
whose primary strategic outcome would fall into C: Learning:

Activities that support participants’ acquisition of knowledge and skills in the arts. [Excludes
projects that have only supplemental learning activities, such as pre‐performance lecture]
Examples:
• Arts instruction for all ages, including lessons, classes and other means to teach
knowledge of and/or skills in the arts (excludes artist professional training programs)
• Curriculum development/implementation, including design, implementation,
distribution of instructional materials, methods, evaluation criteria, goals, objectives,
etc.
• Student assessment, including measurement of student progress toward learning
objectives.
• Artist residencies in schools

D: Livability: American Communities are Strengthened Through the Arts
The FY14 strategic plan cited livability as a variety of factors that contribute to the quality of life in a
community. In particular the FY14 strategic plan cites NEA’s support of creative placemaking, or
grassroots initiatives that typically involve multiple partners from the nonprofit, corporate, and
philanthropic sectors. These partners work together to shape the character of a community with local
arts and cultural assets as a path towards improving livability of communities. The FY18 strategic plan
broadens the focus of this goal to include bringing together of a community and improving the local
economy. In order to align the data collected from Question 10 with the FY18 strategic plan, NEA
encourages grantees to include projects that bring communities together, solve a community problem,
beautify a community, or improve the local economy in D: Livability. Below are examples of projects
whose primary strategic outcome would fall into D: Livability:

Arts activities intended to produce community‐focused outcomes, such as bringing
communities together, solving a community problem, beautifying a community, or improving
the local economy.
Examples:
• Development of cultural plan to improve foot traffic to a downtown region
• Community engagement activities that use the arts to improve social cohesion
• Design of a public sculpture garden to beautify a neighborhood

E: Understanding: Public knowledge and understanding about the contributions
of the arts are enhanced. NEA outcome for Understanding: evidence of the
value and/or impact of the arts is expanded and promoted.

The FY14 strategic plan emphasizes the need for national data and analyses about the U.S. arts sector
and need to explore the impact of the arts on American lives and communities. The FY18 strategic
plan is similar in its goals to collect national data about the arts sector, but also highlights NEA’s role
to help people better appreciate the arts’ value and make them more inclined to engage with the arts.
The FY18 plan also emphasizes the importance of US artists reaching global audiences and US audiences’
exposure to international artists. This crossing of national boundaries, can significantly extend the reach,
understanding, and impact of the arts—broadening the American people’s perspectives, encouraging
empathy, and familiarizing the unfamiliar. Below are examples of projects whose primary strategic
outcome would fall into E: Understanding:
Examples:
• Projects that conduct, commission, and curate high-quality, policy-oriented research on the
value and impact of arts and culture.
• Projects that improve the capacity of researchers outside the NEA to conduct rigorous, highimpact studies about the arts
• Research project designed to examine how the arts impact economic change/growth.
• Program evaluation project designed to understand the impact award dollars had on the
community.