National Society of Arts and Letters

The National Society of Arts and Letters, known as the NSAL, is an American non-profit group founded in 1944 as a women's organization to assist promising young artists through arts competitions, scholarships and other career opportunities. Men were later admitted to the organization, and have been an important and enriching addition.

The National Career Awards Competition, organized by the NSAL is held each year in one of the following categories: visual arts, dance, drama, literature, music or musical theater. Participants in the National Career Awards Competition compete at the local chapter level for a series of monetary awards. First-place winners of the Local Chapter Competitions are sent to the NSAL National Competition, which is held each spring during the Society’s annual meeting. Participants in the National Competition compete for a first place award of $15,000, and a series of other awards that can total another $10,000 or more.

The competitions are designed to offer exposure for young artists who want to be heard and seen by professional critics, managers, producers, teachers, the media, and patrons of the arts.

During its history, the competitions organized by the NSAL have benefitted Oscar-winning actress and dancer Shirley MacLaine and international opera star Jessye Norman among others. In 1998, non-citizens were permitted full membership privileges, thereby extending a more inviting, inclusive image to the organization.

All competitions are adjudicated by nationally recognized men and women in the arts. A master class is conducted by judges for the National Career Awards Competitions. Opportunities for one-on-one sessions and individual critiques are also encouraged.

Begun by a group of civic-minded women who wanted to encourage young talent in the arts, the National Society of Arts and Letters determined from its inception that the best way to accomplish that goal was to sponsor competitions and offer scholarships in the categories of art, music and literature.

On October 21, 1944, they met at the home of the future first National President, Mollie Davis Nicholson, to found a group that specified it was non-partisan, non-political and non-profit-making. The Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter was organized that year and became the Washington, D.C. Chapter on March 31, 1945, with Dorothy Nicholson Bates Stabell as its first president and founder.

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