[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 202 (Thursday, October 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52851-52852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22729]



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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES



National Endowment for the Arts




30-Day Notice for the ``Our Town Program Implementation Study'' 

Proposed Collection; Comment Request



AGENCY: National Endowment for the Arts, National Foundation on the 

Arts and the Humanities.



ACTION: Notice.



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SUMMARY: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 

preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and 

Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or 

continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data 

can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and 

financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly 

understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents 

can be properly assessed. Currently, the NEA is soliciting comments 

concerning the proposed information collection for the Evaluation of 

the Our Town Program. A copy of the current information collection 

request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the 

address section of this notice.



DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 

address section below within 30 days from the date of this publication 

in the Federal Register.



ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Sunil Iyengar, National Endowment for the 

Arts, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20506-0001, telephone (202) 

682-5424 (this is not a toll-free number), fax (202) 682-5677, or send 

via email to [email protected].



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Attn: Sharon Mar, OMB Desk Officer for the National 

Endowment for the Arts, Office of Management and



[[Page 52852]]



Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, 202-395-7316.



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).



    Dated: October 15, 2018.

Gregory Gendron,

Director, Administrative Services, National Endowment for the Arts.

[FR Doc. 2018-22729 Filed 10-17-18; 8:45 am]

 BILLING CODE 7537-01-P