Seven arts groups and government agencies in Miami-Dade and Broward will share $750,000 in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to help preserve jobs as part of President Obama's economic stimulus package.

The South Florida grants are among almost $29.8 million the NEA has awarded to 633 arts organizations around the country. Fourteen Florida arts groups will receive $1.25 million.

Among the NEA grant recipients announced this week are Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and Miami-Dade County's Cultural Affairs Council, an advisory group to the Board of County Commissioners.

The council applied for the maximum federal stimulus for which it was eligible, $250,000, and received it, says Deborah Margol, Miami-Dade's deputy director of cultural affairs.

''We proposed a program that would be direct employment renumeration for arts groups to either restore jobs that had been lost as a consequence of the downturn or enable jobs to continue that are otherwise in peril,'' Margol says.

Margol expects the county to establish an application and distribution process for the money by late fall. Applications and other information will be posted at miamidade arts.org.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant winners are: ArtSouth (Homestead), $50,000; Broward County Board of County Commissioners, $250,000; Florida Grand Opera, $50,000; Miami City Ballet, $50,000; Miami Dade College, $50,000; Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council, $250,000; Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, $50,000.

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