News

We are embarking on a new phase of research funding to address priority research questions in art therapy and music therapy with military populations. 

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is pleased to announce that applications are now available for the 2023-2024 Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program. A partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance, these grants support projects that address the distinct experiences, challenges, and strengths of a broad military-connected population, including active duty service members, guardsmen, reservists, and veterans, as well as their families and caregivers.

The Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants aim to make a difference in military connected communities, through support of arts engagement activities designed to cultivate creative expression, increase social connectedness, improve resilience, and support successful adaptation to civilian life. The inaugural grantees are engaging their local and regional communities in art-making experiences that include a variety of artistic disciplines.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance, is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of Creative Forces® Community Engagement grants, supporting military, veterans, their families and caregivers, for 26 organizations in communities nationwide.

Dr. Sara Kass and Fred Johnson were featured on Good Day LA on March 29, 2022 in an interview with anchor Michaela Pereira.

On March 16, 2022, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm EDT, Creative Forces’® National Resource Center presents Built to Scale: Creative Forces’ Clinical Research Expansion. NEA Director of Research & Analysis Sunil Iyengar and Creative Forces Clinical Research Director Donna Betts will lead a discussion with investigators of new art therapy and music therapy studies being supported by the Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network.

The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support four new pilot research studies into art therapy and music therapy, as part of the agency’s Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network.

The National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance, is pleased to announce the launch of a new grant program as part of Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network. The Creative Forces® Community Engagement Grants will support arts engagement programming for military and veteran populations and family members, providing opportunities for creative expression and strengthening resilience.

Creative Forces’® National Resource Center presents “Healing the Invisible Wounds of War Exhibition", featuring Dr. Bessel van der Kolk on July 25, 2021 from 1:00-2:30 pm ET. Watch the full recorded webinar.

"the exhibit is visceral proof of how over the past decade creative arts therapies have made a measurable impact on the lives of service members, veterans, their families, and caregivers."

The National Endowment for the Arts proudly presents Creative Forces: Healing the Invisible Wounds of War—an interactive exhibition of visual art, music, and performances by military service members and veterans who are current or former participants in the Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network. The exhibition also includes first-person accounts from the artists about their experiences with creative arts therapies and effects of these treatments on their lives.