There were at least two versions of the email from Arts Endowment. Some said the “tentative funding recommendation for the next application” has been withdrawn. These emails were sent to groups that had already provided letters and were recommended for grants but have not yet received the official award. Others said that the grant was sent to the approved group and that “this is to inform you that the above referenced National Fund Awards ended on May 31, 2025.” The NEA did not respond to requests for comment.
The future of the Arts Fund has been questionable since the start of the Trump administration. Initially, the agency suspended one grant program. He then tried to suspend the requirement and change it, promising applicants to other grant programs not to promote “diversity, equity, inclusion” or “gender ideology,” as he faced legal challenges in a way that violated Trump's executive orders on these issues. Then on Friday, Trump proposed to eliminate institutions entirely in the next fiscal year, along with national funds such as the humanities.
Democrats and art supporters have pledged to fight to save the agency. Trump also tried to eliminate arts contributions during his first term in office, but was saved by the support of Republicans and Democrats in Congress. When a few Republicans have not shown their willingness to cross Trump, it is not yet clear whether the agency still has bipartisan support in the current political climate.
Many organizations across the country have reported receiving cancellation emails. Among them is the new Harmony Project, an Indianapolis nonprofit that supports stage and screen scriptwriters, which recommended a $40,000 grant to fund the writers' residency program.
“This Friday night's mass emails, which cut funding for so many arts organizations across the country, is a clear attack on art,” said Jenni Werner, executive artistic director of the new Harmony Project. “This administration wanted to kill the NEA and the artistic freedom it has supported. Tonight's email may have done just that.”
The Great Plains Theatre Commons in Omaha, Nevada, received an email retracting its $35,000 grant recommendation for its annual play festival. Kevin Lawler, the organization's artistic director, called Cut “devastating,” but “pledges to support the storytellers and continue to share the story.
