In Saturday’s (5/3) Washington Post, Samantha Chery writes, “President Donald Trump’s budget proposal would eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, reviving his failed first-term attempts to scrap the grantmaking agencies as he moves to reshape the nation’s artistic and cultural landscape. The proposed cuts come even after the NEH slashed its workforce and the NEA canceled grants in compliance with Trump’s directives to reduce the federal workforce and shut down diversity, equity and inclusion programs. … Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA serves as the largest funder of the arts and arts education for communities across the country, primarily through grantmaking.” The NEA supports orchestras and music organizations throughout the U.S. “Since Trump returned to office, he has enacted and proposed drastic changes to [the NEA and NEH] to fit his agenda for the arts … Trump’s 2026 fiscal year budget proposal must be approved by Congress and signed by him before it can be implemented. Shortly after it was released, the NEA reportedly rescinded grants … [In Trump’s previous term] Congress ultimately rejected … Trump’s similar attempts to drastically reduce funding for the programs in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 fiscal year budgets. Instead, NEA and NEH funding increased with bipartisan support throughout Trump’s first term.”
In Saturday’s (5/3) New York Times, Michael Paulson writes, “The National Endowment for the Arts withdrew and canceled grant offers to numerous arts organizations around the country on Friday night, sending a round of email notifications out just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency in his next budget…. The Eugene Symphony, in Oregon, got two [grant] termination notices … ‘These sudden terminations are hitting arts organizations hard at a moment when many are already bracing for the post-pandemic fiscal cliff, following the temporary boost of relief funds that helped keep the sector afloat,’ said Dave Moss, the symphony’s executive director. ‘But this upheaval, unlike the pandemic, is entirely man-made, and just as we begin to recover from one challenge, we’re immediately thrust into another.’ ”
