About:
NAMTA is an International Association. All countries are welcome to apply. Past recipients of a NAMTA Grant can apply again in the 3rd year after the last NAMTA Grant received.

Donate:
If you, or your company, would like to support the Art & Craft Advocacy Grant program with a donation, please fill out this form. 

Project or Program types accepted:

Community Enrichment
Projects created to enhance public areas and/or neighborhoods, resulting in civic pride, cultural pride, tourism & business, and/or aesthetic beauty. Such projects can be Sculptures, Murals, and other forms of 'Street Art.'

Art & Craft Education
Programs for Schools, After-School Programs, and other educational settings,used for the enhancement of the learning environment.

Art & Craft Therapy for the Military and the Veterans
Projects and Programs specifically used to help active Military personnel and/or Military Veterans, affected by military-related stress, PTSD, and any other underlying psychological issues.

Art & Craft Therapy for Physical and Mental Health & Healing
Programs used in institutions such as Schools, Hospitals, Senior Care, or Group Homes, specifically using art programs and/or classes, that help people deal with physical and/or mental stress, crisis, or sickness. 

 Applications are reviewed and selected based on the following: 

• Feasibility of any project or program proposed
• Impact of the proposed project in the category in which it supports
• Funds available
• Number of applications received 

 Congratulations to the 2023 Recipients!

Every year, the Flint Handmade Yarn Brigade volunteer fiber artists create hats, scarves and ear warmers for those in need in Flint, especially the homeless population. This is Operation: Warm Up Flint. Handmade items are placed on fences, railings and ledges near bus stations and shelters as a community service and public art project.

All items have tags reading: TO A GOOD HOME! If you’re cold, please take me to warm up! Not only do the colorful pieces brighten up these public spaces as a community enrichment project, they also bring awareness to the problem of homelessness.

The volunteer members of Yarn Brigade have been practicing their craft for many years and have significant hands-on experience. We will impact the lives of thousands of people who either created the pieces, enjoyed the beauty of the pieces and/or got to take the pieces to stay warm in the winter.

CREATIVETS' COMMUNITY CENTER ART PROGRAMS - $2,000

CreatiVets’ mission is to empower wounded veterans to heal through the arts and music. We offer all programming to military veterans suffering from the physical and mental wounds of war.

CreatiVets hosts four key programs:
•  Introduction to Arts Program,
•  Songwriting and Musical Lessons Program
•  Virtual Visual Arts
•  Mentorship Program

CreatiVets will continue building out a consistent schedule of in-person workshops year-round, including classes like weaving, paper-making, 3D printing, and bookbinding, and hope to offer regular workshops between 8-10 times a month and host gallery events to showcase the pieces created during these classes.

The Art Therapy Cancer Support Program at Loyola Marymount University Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic, schedules weekly meetings through in-person and/or virtual art therapy groups and workshops conducted by licensed marriage and family therapists/board certified art therapists with support from art therapy graduate student trainees.

Participants have described looking forward to these groups every week, finding the groups to be powerful and moving, and have shared that art therapy has allowed them to connect to their emotions and share their unique experiences, providing creative self-expression opportunities for patients to practice emotional regulation and increase creative tools to lower distress.

HIGHER ORDER THINKING (HOT)  - $3,000
Arts for Learning Connecticut - Schools at Roxbury Elementary

HOT is a whole-school, deep impact, teaching and learning intervention using a variety of arts programming, arts-integrated residencies, arts workshops, performances, and teacher professional development to improve student engagement, enrich school culture, and expand teacher practice.

HOT Schools is designed to fulfill:
• the need for engaging academic programs that offer new pathways to learning and increase students SEL skills
• the need for access to creative school-based arts programs that help develop community and shared
• the need for Professional Development for teachers grounded in Social and Emotional Learning and Culturally Responsive Teaching

In the spring of 2023, the Metal Museum restarted its after-school program, now known as Forging the Future. Prior to the pandemic, the Museum worked with community partners to coordinate the award-winning Soulsville Metals Collaborative, a program of the Metal Museum Youth Initiative.

Forging the Future builds on the same model to introduce students in underserved communities to business and technical skills while compensating them for their work. Program students also learn a range of artistic techniques by working with small metals.  Each semester, the Metal Museum works with program leaders at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis to select a high school in the Memphis and Shelby County public school system. High school students who need assistance regarding career or college readiness and have expressed interest in the arts or in welding and fabrication are ideal candidates for this program. Forging the Future participants are taught basic metalworking techniques that are used to create a line of jewelry, accessories, and one-of-a-kind artworks that are then sold in the Museum Store and at two showcase events each year.