North Carolina Arts Council
The North Carolina Arts Council is an organization in the U.S. state of North Carolina that provides grants to artists, musicians and arts organizations. The group's mission is "To Make North Carolina a Better State Through the Arts". It was founded by executive order in 1964, and it became a statutory state agency in 1967. It is an agency of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, which is the United States' first cabinet-level state agency for the arts, history and libraries.
The organization's first chair was Sam Ragan, followed by Martin Lancaster. Each year since 1989 it has presented the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award.