Smart Growth America Receives National Endowment for the Arts Award to Support Outside In, a Multidisciplinary Project in AAPI Suburban Communities

Smart Growth America has received an FY 2026 grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support artist collaborations for Outside In, a multidisciplinary research and storytelling project to document Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) suburban communities across three metropolitan regions: Atlanta, Georgia; Dallas, Texas; and Memphis, Tennessee.

“We are grateful to the NEA for their support of artists and communities working together to make local stories visible in place, celebrate our cultural heritage, and imagine and design a thriving shared future,” said Marian Liou, Director of Arts & Culture at Smart Growth America.

Outside In brings communities together with multidisciplinary artists to document the stories and significance of everyday suburban places where AAPI communities have built belonging across the American South following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. Through artist collaborations, community workshops, and temporary public installations, the project centers key places within these suburban AAPI communities as sites of creativity, memory, and home.

In metro Atlanta, SGA is working with community partners 85 Community Development Corporation and We Love Buford Highway. In the Dallas-Fort Worth region, SGA is partnering with the Dallas Asian American Historical Society. In the Memphis region, SGA is working with the Asian and Asian American Studies Program at Rhodes College.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support opportunities across the country for Americans to experience and participate in the arts,” said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “As we celebrate the country's 250th anniversary this year, it is a moment to recognize the important role the arts continue to play in our lives, communities, and heritage.”

Learn more about Outside In

###