CUTS TO FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE ARTS: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
Originally published May 5, 2025
Updated May 21, 3:00 pm
LATEST UPDATE: NEA GRANTS ARE BEING WITHDRAWN AND TERMINATED AFTER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSED A FY2026 BUDGET ELIMINATING THE NEA ON MAY 2ND.
On Friday, May 2nd, 2025, President Trump submitted his proposed FY2026 Budget plan to Congress. The non-defense discretionary costs were decreased by $163 billion, or 22.6% below current-year spending. The proposed Budget called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and 15 other small agencies.
The White House is proposing these changes to align with its stated priorities. Budget cuts are made to decrease the size of the federal government, enhance accountability, and eliminate “radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory programs and Green New Scam funding.” Funding is being redirected to increase defense and border security spending to an all-time high.
Hours after the release of Trump’s proposed budget, the NEA emailed organizations across the country about widespread cancellation and withdrawal of federal arts grants. The emails announced the termination of awards that fall outside the priority to fund projects that reflect “the nation’ rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.” Two versions of the email were released:
One withdrew tentative funding recommendations to groups that had received offer letters and been recommended for a grant, but had not yet received their official awards.
The other terminated NEA awards to groups whose grants had been approved, ending support for costs incurred after May 2025.
The emails stated that grants had been canceled for no longer executing program goals or agency priorities. Additional emails were sent to more organizations on May 13th about terminated or withdrawn grants. Organizations have seven calendar days to file an appeal.
On May 5th, the Monday following the first round of termination emails, numerous senior officials at the NEA resigned from their positions. Employees who resigned included 10 directors who oversee grants in various disciplines of art and two members of senior leadership.
WHAT WE KNOW
NEA Grant Cancellations
It’s reported that over 50% of open NEA awards are being terminated. Affected organizations that appealed within the seven-day window are expected to demonstrate alignment with the new priorities of the NEA. New funding criteria must now emphasize projects tied to patriotic celebrations, AI competency, HBCUs, disaster recovery, and similar areas, despite the original application stating new grant applications were encouraged to include an America250-related project, but not required to.
If your organization’s NEA grant was cancelled or rescinded:
APPEAL
We strongly encourage you to appeal the termination within seven days of receiving your notice.
To support your appeal, the Film Festival Alliance and Modern Language Association have developed step-by-step guidance and templates to get you started.
The National Council of Nonprofits created a checklist resource: What to do When Your Federal Grant or Contract is Terminated.
The law firm, Holland & Knight, has put together What Recipients Need to Know if a Federal Grant Is Terminated by the Government to help organizations respond.
ADD YOUR DATA AND YOUR STORY
Consider sharing the status of your Federal grant.
Federal Funding Grant Cancellation Survey: MASSCreative, the Cultural Alliance of Maine, and Connecticut Arts Alliance are partnering to collect data on the impact of NEA, NEH, and IMLS grant cancellations for New England. Please take a moment to complete this survey.
Massachusetts Federal Funding Issue Reporting Form: The Governor’s office launched a new survey calling on nonprofits to share the impacts of federal funding cuts.
Americans for the Arts is collecting real stories that show how the arts transform lives—paired with powerful local data to advocate for continued public investment in the arts. Add your story through the collection portal.
FY26 Federal Budget
This is the fifth time Trump has proposed eliminating the NEA. The first Trump Administration suggested eliminating several independent agencies, including the NEA, all four years. Every year, this initiative failed when Congress voted to continue to finance the NEA with bipartisan support. By the end of Trump’s term, the NEA budget had grown larger than when he was inaugurated in 2016.
However, the current Congress is comprised of very different elected officials from the first Trump term. We cannot assume that Congress will protect these agencies and defend them from cuts. The outcome of 2017 can only repeat itself if advocates mobilize to save the NEA and its values.
Rhode Island Latino Arts v. NEA
MASSCreative is tracking the federal lawsuit against the NEA filed by the ACLU on behalf of four arts nonprofits in Rhode Island. Trump’s Executive Order 14168, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” prompted the NEA to add a certification requirement that forced artists to attest that they will not “promote gender ideology” in their application. The ACLU argues that the new policy violates First and Fifth Amendment rights. The NEA removed the certification on March 7th. As of April 30th, 2025, the NEA released a final notice on the implementation of EO 14186, claiming that it will do so “on a grant-by-grant basis, in a manner that is consistent with the U.S. Constitution.” Policies and expectations are uncertain and rapidly changing, but this should not deter you from fighting back.
Advocacy and broad coalition building are essential to protect federal funding for arts, culture, and the humanities.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
TAKE ACTION AND SPREAD THE WORD. The creative and cultural sector has been under attack, with a strategy to overwhelm and exhaust advocates and constituents from mobilizing. The effort to dismantle the creative and cultural sector is not new, it has been overcome, and we can win again.
As advocates and supporters of the creative community, we must focus our efforts on elevating what these federal cuts and grant cancellations will mean for our communities and Massachusetts residents. Use the resources below to share the news, tell your story, and fight for the survival of the NEA.
Here are three things you can do right now to take action to advocate for art and cultural funding:
ONE
TAKE ACTION to advocate for the federal arts funding to your Congressional Representatives. We encourage you to contact your members of Congress, State Legislature, and City leadership to let them know what cuts to the NEA, NEH, IMLS, and CPB will mean for you and your communities.
Reach out to your U.S. Congressional Representatives to voice your support for the NEA, NEH, IMLS, and CPB in the FY26 Budget.
Email and Phone Campaign: Utilize this messaging, which is designed for you to customize easily for your own state. It includes an email and phone script for grassroots messages to Congressional Representatives, as well as a description and communications to send to advocates.
Send a “sign-on letter” to your U.S. Congressional representatives to demonstrate support for the continual funding of the NEA.
Sign On Letter: This letter template is designed for you to customize easily for your own state. You can collect organization signatories in your community and utilize them as needed to send to U.S. Congressional Representatives, or share in other ways to showcase a broad range of support.
Involve your board of directors, audiences, members, and customers. Ask them to reach out to their members of Congress.
Include this call to action in email and social media communications with your audiences and members.
TWO
PUBLICIZE your story to garner attention and support for NEA funding. Consider ways you or your organization can share the impact of these actions with your networks, audiences, and customers.
Here are press resources to help you effectively share your story and reach a broader audience:
Press Talking Points: Customizable messaging and talking points for press discussions.
Press Release Tutorial: Template for press release statement and pointers for distribution.
Op Ed Instructions: Structural instructions for writing an op ed and some sample talking points to consider.
Samples:
An example Op Ed addressing NEA cuts in Missouri.
An example Press Release from Arts NC for your reference.
Topos Partnership created a useful resource to help you when crafting your messaging: How to Talk About Community Impact of a Terminated NEA Project
Stories are POWERFUL. We need everyone to understand that the Federal government abdicating its responsibility to support civic engagement, freedom of speech, communities or care, and proven economic drivers will have a real impact here in Massachusetts.
THREE
REPORT the cuts to your organization or business to impact surveys to help understand the scope of the funding impacts.
2025 Policy Impact Survey: Please take the Americans for the Arts National Pulse Survey to better understand how recent policy developments—at the federal and state levels—are affecting the health of the arts and culture sector.
