About
Picturing America
Picturing America is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA), that brings notable American art into thousands of communities across the country. The program seeks to offer a fresh and engaging way to learn about American’s history and culture, using art as a catalyst for the study of the cultural, political and historical threads woven into our nation’s fabric over time.
The program was piloted in 2007, launched nationally in 2008, and expanded in 2009. Under these three application deadlines, more than 43,000 schools and 3,500 public libraries were selected to participate.
Through Picturing America, participants received a collection of 20 double-sided, laminated reproductions of American artwork, and a copy of the Picturing America Teachers Resource Book, which includes information about the paintings, sculpture, architecture, and crafts reproduced.
The final round of Picturing America grant applications closed in November 2008. Applications are no longer being accepted.
Picturing America for Public Libraries Website
With funding from NEH and IMLS, the ALA Public Programs Office has developed Picturing America for Public Libraries to support use of the Picturing America collection in humanities programming for public audiences. Site content has been developed with assistance from our project advisors and contributors.
Participating public librarians have been provided with login credentials to access the resources on this Website. Award recipients may share their experiences and pose questions in the forum, access digital files of more than 40 project images in the image gallery, and participate in online training sessions during the September 2009–May 2010 project term.
If you applied for Picturing America on behalf of your public library, please visit the login page or request a password reminder via email. If you work in a public library that received Picturing America, but did not complete the application yourself, please register for a user account. Other users that did not receive a Picturing America grant may register for an account, but will not have access to the image gallery.
With questions about Picturing America for Public Libraries, please contact us.