On February 26, at White House ceremony presided over by President George W. Bush, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) launched its new Picturing America program. Picturing America is composed of forty works of art spanning several centuries–all by American painters, sculptors, photographers, and architects. The NEH will distribute large, high-quality reproductions of these images, along with a teachers resource book, lesson plans, and materials, to schools and libraries nationwide. A Picturing America website was also unveiled.

Public, private, parochial, and charter and home school consortia (K-12), as well as public libraries in the United States and its territories, are eligible to receive Picturing America materials. Interested schools and public libraries can apply through the NEH, with an application deadline of April 15, 2008, for receipt of materials in the fall. Detailed instructions for submitting an application can be found in the ‘Apply Now’ section of the Picturing America Web site.