A Statement on the NEA cuts and the state of the Arts in the USA.
Crisis in… Funding? Free Speech? Rule of Law? Social Fabric?
I’m not even sure what the headline is here…
I should commit to a purpose for this post—feeding outrage? venting? asking for money?—but there’s so much hurt and distress across so many different facets of our community, I’m not sure what actually helps to scream into the ether void… Anyway, I guess this:
On May 2, the National Endowment for the Arts canceled most in-progress grant awards. This means organizations in the middle of NEA-funded projects won’t be compensated for expenses they’ve ALREADY INCURRED based on contracts offered by and signed with the federal government.
Also on May 2, the Trump administration released a FY26 budget that eliminates the NEA entirely. This led, unsurprisingly, to a staff exodus over the weekend, in what their union described as “coerced resignations.”
Maybe pause for a moment on that point, call your lawyer, and ask how the federal government is able to cancel contracts without cause?
It seems illegal. It’s definitely unconscionable. It’s probably unconstitutional. And it’s entirely predictable, based on similar earlier contracting-breaking at the NEH, IMLS, PBC, NSF, USAID, EPA, the Inflation Reduction and Bipartisan Infrastructure Acts…
Another pause, to request: can we stop getting apoplectic about this administration’s lying, cheating, illegal, unconscionable behavior? Calling them on their shit isn’t doing shit. Yes, we condemn their actions, and stand in solidarity with our artist friends who were just stripped of funding, and with scientists researching cancer cures and biodiversity, and also with Kilmar and Jeanette… but instead of just standing there, it’d be really nice to find somewhere useful to channel our fury together… (Please call with ideas, or stay tuned for ours.)
At Control Group, we’re between NEA grant cycles—no current awards in motion for the govt to claw back, but an application filed last July that would have been awarded this June (yes, they take 11 months to process applications); and an application due this month to Colorado Creative Industries, which re-grants NEA funds. (Those state agency funds haven’t been clawed back yet, but new policies forced by the NEA require these grants to be administered as reimbursements instead of advance awards, creating the same scenario we’re witnessing now, where funds could be withheld after they’re awarded, contracted, and spent.)
So, total direct budget effect for us: $40,000. (This year, and annually.)
We saw this coming, and revised our budget downward two months ago. But it still leaves us hurting, stretched even thinner than usual, and unsure how to move forward with the project the NEA grant would have supported (an exploration of migration journey experiences). It’s not an existential crisis (yet), but every dollar lost would have paid artists to create urgent, powerful work, and sustain careers here in Denver.
It also isn’t happening in a void. These decisions will shift other funders’ decisions and priorities. Institutions will use their megaphones and wealthy boards to backfill their budget gaps, and the trickle-down effect will damage the undergrowth where we eke out our existence, and stifle new growth among the community of emerging artists we support.
So, yes, please do give us lots of money if you’re situated for that. But far more broadly, please start brainstorming on the question of how we backfill everything the federal government is destroying? How do we (as a community, a city, a state, a region) intend to replace the social services, cultural offerings, emergency management, weather tracking, …
Our Colorado Gives page can be found here.
-Patrick
