PAD FAQs

What is PAD?

The NEA launched PAD in 2015 to promote US artists to international programmers, festival directors, and venue managers, thereby reducing barriers and creating opportunities for American artists to perform overseas. As a response to COVID-19, the PAD program evolved into the online showcase opportunity that it is today.

PAD is comprised of two initiatives: PAD Showcase — a online international showcase and promotional platform, which artists/ensembles apply to participate in; and PADX — an initiative to expand opportunities for U.S. performing artists into new target international markets through trade missions to industry market events.

What’s the purpose of the PAD program?

The purpose of the PAD program is to introduce international presenters to US performing artists and ensembles, thereby reducing barriers for American artists overseas, and to create new opportunities for US performing artists internationally.

Who can participate in PAD?

All performing arts professionals are eligible to participate in PADX trade missions, whose cohorts prioritize the inclusion of agents, managers, and artists.

How did PAD come to be?

The Performing Arts Discovery (PAD) program was launched in 2015 by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to promote US performing artists to international programmers, festival directors, and venue managers, thereby creating opportunities for American artists to perform overseas.

While the purpose of the program — introducing international presenters to US performing artists and companies — has not changed, previous cycles of the PAD program were structured differently.

In pre-pandemic years, 2015 - 2019, PAD brought international programmers, festival directors, and venue managers to the Arts Midwest, Performing Arts Exchange, and Western Arts Alliance conferences to see the work of U.S. artists.

The structure of the program shifted to its current format in 2021 as a result of limitations in travel during COVID-19. The program now provides PAD artists international online showcase opportunities and PADX trade missions to markets overseas.

Who funds PAD?

In 2022, WAA received a $300,000 grant award from the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) to expand PAD’s reach into new target markets, focusing on Australia, Germany, and Colombia — countries with a demand for international work. As part of the ITA’s MDCP, PAD will once again seek to strengthen relationships and connections through in-person participation in market events.