SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The NEA is particularly interested in comments which:

• Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology,e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Agency: National Endowment for the Arts.

Title: Our Town Program Implementation Study.

OMB Number: New.

Frequency: One Time.

Affected Public: Grantee Organizations (local government agencies and nonprofits).

Estimated Number of Respondents: 381.

Total burden hours: 190.5 hours.

Total annualized capital/startup costs: 0.

Total annual costs (operating/maintaining systems or purchasing services): $55,000.

This study is a new information collection request, and the data to be collected are not available elsewhere unless obtained through this information collection. A web-based survey of the National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Our Town program grantees is planned for late January 2019 through mid-April 2019. Knowledge gained through this study will enable the NEA to validate or modify the Our Town program theory of change, logic model, and measurement model in order to adjust grant program guidelines and grantee reporting requirements and to prepare for a future outcome evaluation study. The web-based survey of past and present Our Town grantees will provide the NEA with a richer understanding of how Our Town grantees operate in local communities and the types of change to which the grants contribute. Currently, the NEA grantee report form does not collect detailed information about project design, and changes to the report form would not yield substantive information until at least 2022 due to the grant reporting cycle. Our Town is the NEA's creative placemaking grants program since FY 2011. Through project-based funding ranging from $25,000 to $150,000, the agency makes awards nationally to local government agencies and nonprofit organizations in urban, rural, and tribal communities to support projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes. These projects require a partnership between a local government entity and nonprofit organization, one of which must be a cultural organization; and should engage in partnership with other sectors (such as agriculture and food, economic development, education and youth, environment and energy, health, housing, public safety, transportation, and workforce development). Our Town projects proposed by applicants often utilize a mix of activities, including arts engagement, cultural planning, design, and artist and creative industry support. It is the agency's vision that successful Our Town projects ultimately lay the groundwork for systemic changes that sustain the integration of arts, culture, and design into strategies for strengthening communities. This study supports NEA's FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, which seeks in part to “provide opportunities for the arts to be integrated into the fabric of community life” (Strategic Objective 2.3) and to “expand and promote evidence of the value and impact of the arts for the benefit of the American people” (Strategic Objective 3.2).

83 FR 52851