Today, NPN has grown to a partnership of 55 art organizations, called Partners, in over 36 cities across the country. NPN connects Artists with communities around two simple ideas - to help artists make work in their own neighborhoods, and to cross geographic and cultural divides to increase the traffic of fresh, challenging artistic work.

NPN provides support for established and emerging artists in dance, music, theater, performance art, puppetry, and spoken word. It serves as the developmental rung on the ladder for emerging contemporary performing artists because it provides rare or first-time touring opportunities. NPN also plays a critical role for mid-career and established artists who continue to create new work and to tour on the network because it offers a wealth of opportunities at a time when support is diminishing. Equally important, NPN connects artists with progressive presenters, arts organizations, and communities across the country.

Brief History
In 1985, David R. White, Executive Director of New York’s Dance Theater Workshop, called together a group of 14 artist-centered presenting organizations to discuss a national dilemma — independent artists and cultural organizers throughout the U.S. who felt limited by artistic isolation and economic constraints affecting the sharing of creative ideas within and among communities. The result was the creation of a network of adventurous, dedicated presenters and a centralized source of national funds for the presentation of work and extended artists’ residencies in communities. Seventeen years later, NPN is comprised of 55 members, called NPN Partners, in 43 cities across every region of the United States. In 1998, after a yearlong planning process, NPN separated from Dance Theater Workshop, and under the leadership of San San Wong, became an independently incorporated not-for-profit organization. In 2000, MK Wegmann was appointed President and CEO, and the National Office moved to New Orleans.

What NPN Does
NPN has provided an unprecedented vision and support for the independent artist community. Funding from NPN is critical to the successful creation and production of work, and the very basis of NPN’s mission - to facilitate partnerships - means that each dollar that NPN invests has an exponential impact. By the end of its 17th season, NPN will have subsidized over 900 residencies by more than 400 artists and companies based in 35 states, generating almost $10.3 million in artist residency fees and community cultural development funds. More than 425,000 audience members have attended NPN-sponsored performances and over 285,000 people have participated in NPN residency activities.

NPN has nurtured a generation of imaginative, progressive leadership - artists and presenters - who are committed to sustaining ongoing, pragmatic relationships that place cultural identity at the center of a community’s daily life. By serving as a forum for peer-to-peer communication among artists and leaders in the performing arts, NPN plays a vital role in developing, shaping and disseminating cultural policy.

Impact
In recognition of its success and efficacy, other networks have been inspired by NPN, including the Network of Latin American Independent Presenters of Contemporary Art (“La Red”), CAN Dance (Canadian Dance Network), Japanese Contemporary Dance Network, and the Nationales Performance Netz in Germany.