About the NEA

NEA Artistic Field Directors

Ann Baker

Ann Meier Baker

Music & Opera Director

Ann Meier Baker was appointed the director of Music & Opera at the National Endowment for the Arts in January 2015. She oversees the NEA’s grantmaking in music and opera, and manages the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships. Previously, Baker served as president and CEO of Chorus America, where she led the national membership association of more than 2,000 professional, volunteer, symphonic and children/youth choruses. She was founding director of the National School Boards Association Foundation, an incubator for new ideas...
Beth Bienvenu

Beth Bienvenu

Accessibility Director

Beth Bienvenu is the director of the Office of Accessibility at the National Endowment for the Arts, where she manages the NEA's technical assistance and advocacy work devoted to making the arts accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people in institutional settings. She provides guidance and support to state arts agency staff and professionals working the fields of arts access, creativity and aging, arts and health, universal design, and arts in corrections. Prior to coming to the...
Wendy Clark

Wendy Clark

Director of Museums, Visual Arts, and Indemnity

Wendy Clark was appointed director of Museums, Visual Arts, and Indemnity at the National Endowment for the Arts in July 2014, having served as acting director since November 2012. In this position, she manages the NEA's grantmaking for museums and visual arts, and the program's special initiatives, such as the Blue Star Museums program. Clark has more than 20 years of experience managing various federal grant programs and special initiatives at the NEA in Museums, Visual Arts, and Design. Most...
Jax Deluca

Jax Deluca

Media Arts Director

Jax Deluca was appointed the director of Media Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts in January 2016. She oversees the NEA’s grantmaking in media arts. Previously, Deluca served as executive director of Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center in Buffalo, NY, a nonprofit serving western New York state which promotes innovation in media arts through access, education, and exhibition. At Squeaky Wheel, Deluca oversaw major expansion efforts, including fundraising, new jobs and media equipment, an updated youth...
Ayanna Hudson

Ayanna N. Hudson

Arts Education Director

Ayanna N. Hudson is the director of Arts Education for the National Endowment for the Arts., where she presides over the grant portfolio devoted to arts education, works with national service organizations on policy initiatives, and serves as the spokesperson for arts education at the federal level. The NEA's arts education program provides direct learning grants for projects that provide pre-K through 12th-grade students with opportunities to gain knowledge and skills in the arts both in and outside the classroom;...
Sunil Iyengar

Sunil Iyengar

Research & Analysis Director

Sunil Iyengar directs the Office of Research & Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. Since his arrival at the NEA in June 2006, the office has produced more than 25 research publications, hosted several research events and webinars, twice updated the NEA's five-year strategic plan, and overseen a new and expanded survey about arts participation. In that time, the office also has created an arts system map and long-term research agenda, and has launched a research grants program...
Michael Killoren

Michael Killoren

Local Arts Agencies & Challenge America Director

Michael Killoren serves as the director for Local Arts Agencies and Challenge America at the National Endowment for the Arts. He is responsible for the grantmaking processes for Local Arts Agencies (LAA's), developing partnerships to advance the LAA field as a whole, and the Challenge America program. Most recently, Killoren served as director of Seattle's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, a cabinet-level position, from 2002 through 2010, where he led the city department's funding and public art programs, developed...
Clifford Murphy

Clifford Murphy

Folk & Traditional Arts Director

Clifford Murphy was appointed the director of Folk & Traditional Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts in August 2015. He oversees the NEA’s grantmaking in folk and traditional arts, and manages the NEA National Heritage Fellowships. Murphy was previously the director of Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). In 2011, Murphy launched the state’s first Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival, and also managed the Maryland Traditions grant program supporting apprenticeships and projects. Murphy...
Michael Orlove

Michael Orlove

Artist Communities, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works Director, International Activities Coordinator

Michael Orlove currently serves as the director of Artist Communities and Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works for the National Endowment for the Arts and has responsibility over the NEA's international programs. Orlove provides oversight on grants for presenting and artist communities projects and manages international partnership programs. A native of Chicago, Orlove spent 19 years as senior program director for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. His tenure with the department led to nearly two decades of innovation, creativity, and passion...
Greg Reiner

Greg Reiner

Theater & Musical Theater Director

Greg Reiner joined the NEA as the director of theater and musical theater starting in September 2015. Reiner manages NEA grantmaking in theater and musical theater and represents the agency to the field. Most recently, Reiner was executive director of Classic Stage Company in New York City, where he launched CSC’s Musical Theater Initiative, the organization’s largest fundraising campaign, and implemented new education programs such as a Teen Council and a Shakespeare scene and monologue competition. Prior to that, Reiner...
Laura Scanlan

Laura Scanlan

State & Regional Director, Partnership Team Leader

Laura Scanlan serves as the director of State and Regional Partnerships. In that capacity, Scanlan provides direction concerning NEA funding and other assistance to the 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies and the six regional arts agencies. Previously, Scanlan founded the consulting practice Creative Cultural Strategies in 2007, providing professional advisory services for nonprofit organizations in the cultural sector. She was senior vice president for fund development and marketing at the Delaware Community Foundation, comprised of 970 charitable funds, $165...
Jason Schupbach

Jason Schupbach

Director of Design Programs

Jason Schupbach became director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts in May 2010. In this position, he manages the NEA's grantmaking for design and the NEA's design initiatives, such as the Mayors' Institute on City Design as well Our Town, which provides funding in recognition of the role that the arts can play in economic revitalization and in creating livable, sustainable communities. Prior to coming to the NEA, Schupbach held the first-in-the-nation position of creative economy industry...
Douglas Sonntag

Douglas Sonntag

Director of Dance

Douglas C. Sonntag serves as the director of Dance for the National Endowment for the Arts, a position he has held since 1997. From 2004 to 2008 he was also the director of the Office of National Initiatives where he supervised work on several signature Arts Endowment programs, including Shakespeare in American Communities, Save America’s Treasures, American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius, and the NEA Arts Journalism Institutes. Previously, he served as program administrator and senior program specialist for...
Amy Stolls

Amy Stolls

Literature Director

Amy Stolls is the director of Literature at the National Endowment for the Arts. She oversees the NEA's grantmaking in literature, which include grants to organizations for publishing and audience and professional development projects, as well as fellowships to individual poets, prose writers, and translators. Stolls has more than 15 years of experience in the NEA's Literature program managing various grant programs and special initiatives. As a literature specialist and literature program officer, she has advised on and reviewed more...