Games officially declared art in US

NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), which works under the US federal government, has officially recognised video games as an eligible art form under its new grant application guidelines.

NEA issues grants for works deemed as art or works that are about the arts. In digital terms, only television and radio works were acknowledged, but NEA has expanded its guidelines under a new ' Arts in Media' category, which now incorporates: "All available media platforms such as the Internet, interactive and mobile technologies, digital games, arts content delivered via satellite, as well as on radio and television."
NEA issues grants of up to $200k to works of art or works that are about the arts to artists creating outside of the commercial world for support while they create. This would allow small (or individual) developers to create games to offer for free while being funded by the government, as painters and sculptors have been able to for years.

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