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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 NC Heritage Awards ceremony will take place in 2027.

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North Carolina's Local Arts Agencies

North Carolina boasts one of the largest networks of local arts agencies in the nation. For more than 50 years, the NC Arts Council has cultivated the network through grant support, professional development, and technical assistance.

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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 final report deadlines.

Check out the May 2026 edition of our Art Matters newsletter

The Come Hear NC Music Office joins the NC Arts Council, Orange County Arts Commission is renewed and ready for the future, and a change on the North Carolina Arts Council board.

Shaped by Sound, a mural of Nina Simone, musicians playing instruments and DJ-ing showcase a few of the ways CHNC Music Office supports music in North Carolina

The CHNC Music Office is now part of the NC Arts Council

The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) is pleased to announce that the Come Hear NC Music Office (CHNCMO) is now a part of the North Carolina Arts Council. This marks a fitting return for Come Hear NC, which began as an NCAC initiative during the 2019 “North Carolina Year of Music.”

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.