ARTS

NEA Grants Awarded: The National Endowment for the Arts announced Thursday it is awarding $15.6 million in long-term grants to support “exciting, innovative and far-reaching” projects by 37 arts organizations from Hanover, N.H., to Tacoma, Wash. Million-dollar grants were awarded to New York choreographer Merce Cunningham, public television’s “American Playhouse” series and the Houston Grand Opera. The smallest grant, $50,000, went to public radio station KLON-FM in Long Beach. New York City arts organizations were the biggest winners, with nine grants totaling $4,655,000. The next highest total, six grants worth $2,660,000, went to San Francisco, including an $850,000 award to the Fine Arts Museums to seismically reinforce the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.