Arts Funders Respond

Jane Chu, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, has released a statement following today’s release of the president’s budget plan: Today we learned that the president’s FY 2018 budget blueprint proposes the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts. We are disappointed because we see our funding actively making a difference with … Continue reading Statement from National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu →

President Trump released his first federal budget plan today, as reported by The New York Times: President Trump, in his first federal budget plan, proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. President Trump also proposed scrapping the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. . . . It was the … Continue reading Trump Budget Plan Released, Includes Elimination of NEA, NEH, and CPB →

An op-ed piece written by dance educator Amy M. Wilkinson and published in The Hill argues the importance of the arts as part of a well-rounded education. As states develop their plans as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), advocates argue that the arts must be included in those plans. The article highlights … Continue reading Op-ed: Cuts to Arts Funding Could Be Detrimental to Academic Achievement →

The MIT Media Lab has opened nominations for the Disobedience Award, a one-time award of $250,000 for “a person or group engaged in what we believe is extraordinary disobedience for the benefit of society”: We’d like to call out action that seeks to change society in positive ways and is consistent with a set of … Continue reading MIT Media Lab ‘Disobedience Award’ to Recognize Courage and Creativity that Benefit Society →

A recent blog post written by Executive Vice President Mariët Westermann of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation voices support for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities. She discusses the billions of dollars in grants made possible by collaboration between private funders (including Mellon) and the Endowments and argues that many arts initiatives and … Continue reading Mellon Foundation EVP on Why We Need the NEA and the NEH →

In a recent blog post, The Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant writes about the power of arts, journalism, and courage in times of political conflict. In the spirit of this idea, the Endowments have increased their arts grantmaking budget: For our part, the Endowments has decided to increase its normal grantmaking in the arts and … Continue reading Heinz Endowments President on the Power of Arts and Journalism, Increases Arts Spending $1.5M →

GIA member and California Humanities CEO Julie Fry recently penned an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle urging the importance of federal arts funding: The arts and humanities are good for the success of young people and good for the economy, and we all benefit from that. As Johnson said back in 1965, this is … Continue reading Julie Fry Publishes Op-Ed on the Importance of Federal Arts Funding →

From The New York Times: The White House budget office has drafted a hit list of programs that President Trump could eliminate to trim domestic spending, including longstanding conservative targets like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Legal Services Corporation, Americorps, and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. Work on the first … Continue reading Federal Budget Office Memo Seeks Elimination of Nine Programs Including NEA, NEH, CPB →

The early days of the Trump Administration and the 115th Congress have already begun to impact the education policy landscape. Alex Nock of Penn Hill Group has provided a summary update for Grantmakers in the Arts on current events that impact arts education and arts funding on a federal level. These events include the confirmation … Continue reading Federal Arts Education Update: DeVos, ESSA, and Arts Funding →

From The New York Times: The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos on Tuesday as education secretary, approving the embattled nominee only with the help of a historic tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence. The 51-to-50 vote elevates Ms. DeVos — a wealthy donor from Michigan who has devoted much of her life to expanding educational … Continue reading Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary →