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2025 Heritage Award honorees on stage performing at the award ceremony in front of a cheering crowd

North Carolina Heritage Awards

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists across the state for their contributions to the cultural life of their communities. Presented every other year, the next N.C. Heritage Awards ceremony will take place in 2027. Nominations for next year’s awards are due by May 4, 2026.

N.C. Heritage Award Nomination Form

Blue keyboard key with the word Grants on it

Grants Dashboard

Our grants are one of the key ways we invest in the state’s vibrant arts community. Explore the Grants Dashboard, your one-stop shop for grant information and deadlines.

Art Matters: News from the N.C. Arts Council

Check out the Feburary 2026 edition of our Art Matters newsletter

Spotlight on arts education leader Michelle Burrows, 25 years of African American Cultural Celebration, and staffing updates.

The airy gallery space at the arts council in New Bern, North Carolina

North Carolina's Local Arts Agencies

With decades of leadership, we have cultivated one of the nation’s largest networks of local arts agencies through grants, professional development, and technical assistance. Today, more than 75 local arts agency partners serve all 100 counties, ensuring statewide access to programs, services, and funding that strengthen the arts in local communities and extend the N.C. Arts Council’s impact across North Carolina.

Celebrating N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green

Jaki Shelton Green is the first African American and third woman poet to be appointed as North Carolina Poet Laureate. As Jaki closes out her final year as our state’s poet-in-chief, we are celebrating her tenure in a short documentary, The People's Laureate: Jaki Shelton Green.

Arts Across NC Podcast

The Arts Across NC Podcast is back! We’re excited as always to share the stories of artists and arts organizations from around the state, and to highlight some of the work we’re doing here at the North Carolina Arts Council.

What We Do: The Arts Council

The North Carolina Arts Council delivers resources to arts organizations and artists to support projects and programs of public value that revitalize downtowns, educate and empower North Carolina youths, and fuel a thriving non-profit creative sector that generates over $2 billion annually.