Trump Proposes Gutting National Endowment for The Arts, Organization Announces Shift to Align with President’s Priorities
By David SalazarThe arts world is set for a massive shift as the Trump administration has pushed the National Endowment of the Arts in a different direction, resulting in the loss of grants for several organizations.
Per several reports, Trump proposed to cut funding outright. As such, the NEA sent out an email stating that it would be “updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities.”
Per ARTnews, those priorities include elevating historically Black colleges and universities, as well as schools serving Hispanic students. Other priorities for Trump including art projects that celebrate “the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster A.I. competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.”
As ARTnews points out, it is an interesting pivot given that most of the grants were given to support projects by artists of color and Trump’s administration has been open about pushing back against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This had been decreed back in February, when the NEA saved itself by complying with Trump’s anti-DEI and anti-trans executive orders and stated that it would not give grants to organizations that operated any programs promoting DEI programs or use funds to “promote gender ideology.” This aimed to fall in line with Executive Order 14168 which is titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
At that time, the NEA also announced that it would be eliminating the Challenge America grant program for 2026; that program supported “historically underserved communities that have limited access to the arts relative to geography, ethnicity, economics, and/or disability.”
The ACLU filed a lawsuit and while a judge did not block the NEA from reimposing the requirement, it did allow the agency’s internal process to continue with a deadline set for April 30. That deadline has passed and several organizations received emails stating that their already approved funding for upcoming projects had been eliminated.
Per Deadline, Portland Playhouse was informed on Friday that a $25,000 grant for their production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” was being ripped away from them.
Among the companies approved for grants in Fiscal Year 2025 for projects pertaining to opera are Anchorage Opera, Artist Magnet Justice Alliance, Opera Cultura, Piedmont Choirs, Bodhi Tree Concerts, Opera Parallele, Pocket Opera, Opera San Jose, In Series Inc., Opera Lafayette, Washington National Opera, Florida Opera & Zarzuela Corp, Olga Iglesias Project, Inc., Atlanta Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music and Dance Theater Chicago Inc., Thompson Street Opera Company, Quad City Symphony Orchestra Association, Des Moines Metro Opera, White Snakes Projects, Detroit Opera, Lakes Area Music Festival, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Omaha, Opera Southwest, Santa Fe Opera, Opera on Tap, Vision Into Art, Hudson Opera House, Chinese Theatre Works, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Nuovo, North Carolina Opera, Cincinnati Opera Association, The Cleveland Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Utah Symphony & Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Virginia Opera, Music of Remembrance, Seattle Opera, Madison Opera, and Opera Wyoming.
“This is a dark day for the independence of the arts and musicians across the country – and it is an attack on American excellence and creativity,” said AFM Local 802 Union President Bob Suttmann. “NEA grants have been crucial in establishing the American artistic sector as the premier in the world, providing predictable funding for employers in a world of unpredictability. Communities across our nation will be worse off with dwindling resources for musicals, plays, and other performances that were made possible with NEA funding. Importantly, the elimination of these grants is going to hurt arts workers the most, and ultimately, it’s going to mean fewer shows, jobs, and economic activity.”
American Theatre noted that the NEA will implement Executive Order 14168 on a case by case basis.
Reports by both American Theater and The Art Newspaper also noted that cuts to staff are imminent with the latter publication stating that “there will be significant reduction to staff, largely through voluntary means, with close to half of the 140 employees taking a buyout package, deferred resignation, or early retirement.”
Trump’s assault on the NEA is nothing new. During his first term, the President attempted to dismantle the NEA outright, but was repeatedly rebuffed by Congress. Now he has Speaker Mike Johnson’s support to do it if he wants to.
The NEA received just $207 million in its most recent fiscal year; per its official website in Fiscal Year 2022, it made up just 0.003 percent of the entire federal budget when it received $180 million. For context, in Fiscal Year 2021, discretionary spending featured a budget of $1.6 trillion of the overall $7 trillion spending. Per the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2023, arts and cultural economic activity contributed $1.17 trillion to the GDP (4.2 percent). Moreover, arts and cultural jobs employment nationwide was 5.4 million and in that same Fiscal Year it had increased in 27 states. That was during President Joe Biden’s economy.
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