The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded $1.47 million in federal stimulus grants to 32 arts and cultural groups in Pennsylvania. An additional $600,000 will go to 14 organizations in New Jersey.

The arts agency received about $50 million for distribution nationally as part of the federal economic recovery effort. In Philadelphia, 21 organizations will receive a total of about $1 million, according to a spokesman for the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. That includes $250,000 for the alliance, which will pass it along in grants to arts organizations.

The direct NEA funding is "to support the preservation of jobs that are threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn," according to agency officials.

In a 2007 study, released immediately before the recession took hold, the Cultural Alliance estimated that arts and cultural groups in Southeastern Pennsylvania produced about $1.3 billion in annual expenditures and accounted for about 40,000 jobs. For each $1 in support, the study concluded, cultural groups produced about $5 in local tax revenues. The number of jobs lost since then has not been determined, but it is substantial, arts officials say.

The funds distributed to the Cultural Alliance, which teamed up with the city's Office of Arts and Culture to secure the money, will go to support jobs "threatened or already eliminated" or to maintain artistic contracts, the alliance said.

The alliance will retain $25,000 to administer the regranting program, a spokesman said, with the rest going to up to 15 organizations in grants of $15,000, $25,000, or $45,000.

Alliance grants are limited to Philadelphia-based nonprofit arts organizations. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. July 24. Alliance officials encouraged potential applicants to review grant guidelines at www.philaculture.org/recovery-act-guidelines

Pennsylvania organizations awarded NEA grants include the following, which are based in Philadelphia unless otherwise indicated by name or location:

Allentown Art Museum, $50,000; Arden Theatre Company, $50,000; Asian Arts Initiative, $50,000; Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble Inc., $25,000; Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, $50,000; Concerto Soloists, $50,000; COSACOSA art at large Inc., $25,000; CultureWorks Ltd., $25,000; Erie Philharmonic, $25,000.

Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, $250,000; Institute for Cultural Partnerships, Harrisburg, $50,000; InterAct Inc., $25,000; Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, $25,000; Landis and Company Theatre of Magic Inc., Glenside, $25,000; Opera Company of Philadelphia, $50,000; Painted Bride Art Center, $50,000; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, $25,000.

Pennsylvania Ballet, $50,000; People's Light and Theatre Company, Malvern, $50,000; Philadelphia Folklore Project, $50,000; Philadelphia Orchestra, $50,000; Philadelphia Theatre Company, $50,000; Philadelphia Young Playwrights, $50,000; Pig Iron Theatre Co., $25,000; Pittsburgh Film-Makers Inc., $25,000; Pittsburgh Symphony Society, $50,000.

Scribe Video Center Inc., $50,000; Settlement Music School, $50,000; Spiral Q Puppet Theater, $25,000; Tempesta di Mare, $25,000; Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, $25,000; and Touchstone, Bethlehem, $50,000.

New Jersey recipients include:

American Boychoir School, Princeton, $50,000; Center for Modern Dance Education, Hackensack, $25,000; International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, $25,000; Jersey City Museum, $25,000; Montclair Art Museum, $50,000; Morris Museum, Morristown, $50,000; Newark Museum Association, $50,000; Newark Public Radio, $50,000.

Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, $50,000; Passage Theatre Company, Trenton, $25,000; Peters Valley Craftsmen, Layton, $50,000; Rutgers University, New Brunswick, $50,000; Rutgers-Camden, $50,000; and Young Audiences of New Jersey, Princeton, $50,000.

In Delaware, the Delaware Symphony Association in Wilmington was awarded $50,000.