Deanne Wortman, director of the NEXUS Engineering and Art at the College of Engineering, has been invited to present on the college's NEXUS program at the October 28 meeting of the National Council on the Arts, the granting committee for the Creativity Counts Grants of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Her presentation will include an overview of the college, the idea behind the NEXUS, a list of program accomplishments, testimonial comments from students, and a summary of current NEXUS activities.

The NEXUS came to the council's attention as a result of an invitation to participate in one of the National Endowment of the Arts's eight round-table discussions held across the U.S. last year, aimed a mapping arts practitioners, groups, and programs in America. The data and stories are being used to assess the vitality and weaknesses in the creative arts sector in the U.S. as well as its financial contribution to the American gross national product.  The information will help the granting committee determine where and how to support the activity.

The NEXUS Engineering and Arts initiative at the college is a creative challenge for art and engineering students and faculty at the university of Iowa to achieve great outcomes collaborating with one another.

The meeting will be webcast at arts.gov from 8:00 am to 10:30 am CT.

The National Council on the Arts advises the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who also chairs the Council, on agency policies and programs. It reviews and makes recommendations to the Chairman on applications for grants, funding guidelines, and leadership initiatives.

The Council was established through the National Arts and Cultural Development Act of 1964, a full year before the federal agency was created by Congressional legislation. Its first members were appointed by President Lyndon Johnson and included noted artists such as Ralph Ellison, Paul Engle, Elizabeth Ashley, Gregory Peck, Oliver Smith, William Pereira, Minoru Yamasaki, George Stevens Sr., Leonard Bernstein, Agnes de Mille, David Smith, and Isaac Stern.