Washington, DC—The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will host the public session of the 206th National Council on the Arts meeting on Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 3:15 pm ET via Zoom webinar. This will be Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson’s first meeting as NEA Chair following her Senate confirmation in December 2021. 

This meeting is open to the public to attend but registration is required. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Closed captioning and American Sign Language interpretation will be available.

National Council on the Arts members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Members advise the NEA chair on agency policies and programs. The council reviews and makes recommendations on applications for grants, funding guidelines, and leadership initiatives.

Three new National Council on the Arts members have been confirmed by the Senate and sworn in. This will be their first council meeting:

• Government and community leader Ismael Ahmed of Farmington Hills, Michigan 
• Theater director and producer Kamilah Forbes of New York, New York
• Poet Huascar Medina of Lawrence, Kansas

View the full list of current council members and biographies on the NEA website.

Six additional members were confirmed by the Senate and will be sworn in following this meeting. Their first National Council on the Arts meeting will be in June 2022:

• Clarinet player and composer Kinan Azmeh of New York, New York
• Attorney Bidtah Becker of the Navajo Nation in Fort Defiance, Arizona
• Arts leader Gretchen Gonzales Davidson of Birmingham, Michigan
• Entrepreneur and consultant Constance Williams of Haverford, Pennsylvania
• Choreographer, educator, and arts administrator Christopher Morgan of Takoma Park, Maryland
• Ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro of Honolulu, Hawai'i