How Very Patriotic: NEA Grant Cancellations and Local Impact

The local impact of NEA grant cancellations has been a mix of real financial damage, fear and uncertainty, along with tentative hope due to the timing of the cancellation, and the timelines of affected grants. The whole dynamic is complicated by the slow pace of bureaucracy, the requirement of matching funds, and the lag time for the period of activity funded.  On or about May 2, a long list of organizations that had been awarded grants—most of which had their projects underway, and had spent money on those projects—received a letter stating “This is to inform you that the above referenced National Endowment for the Arts award has been terminated, effective May 31, 2025.”

The affected grants had been made as early as 2023, 2024, and as recently as January, 2025. Rather than being terminated, many of the grants made in January 2025 have been “withdrawn.”

In its first round of 2023, the NEA announced 37 grants to Ohio organizations for a total of $615,000.  In the second round, they announced 32 grants to Ohio organizations for a total of $2,262,000. In the first round for 2024, the NEA announced $438,000 in grants to 26 Ohio organizations. In the second round of round that year the NEA announced 35 Ohio organizations were awarded a total of $2,710,300.

The announcement of first-round grantmaking in 2025 came January 14. A total of 30 Ohio organizations were to receive a total of $585,000. Those were the grants “withdrawn,” leaving no recourse or hope of receiving payment.

Some of the organizations who had their grants “terminated” as of May 31 had already received full or partial re-imbursement. Some were scrambling to apply in hopes of getting it before the deadline. We’re not aware of any effort by the NEH or the Administration to “claw back” any payments already made.

So far, grants to state and regional arts agencies—such as the Ohio Arts Council—have been left intact. The Ohio Arts Council was awarded $1,330,500, which is approximately 6% of its budget. The majority of OAC’s budget comes from the State of Ohio, and has historically had bipartisan support.

The NEA’s announcements earlier this year included one February 6 that the former Challenge America program—designed to boost underserved communities—was cancelled, and that those funds would be redirected to the Grants for Arts Projects program. That was to align grantmaking with the Trump administration’s opposition to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Further, that the Grants for Arts Projects program—the agency’s primary grantmaking program–would favor projects that “honor the semi-quincentennial of the United States of America (America250),” which takes place in 2026. Artists and organizations have interpreted that to mean proposals for the coming fiscal year should be patriotic.

Among the Northeast Ohio visual art organizations that received grants are the Morgan Conservatory ($20,000), the Cleveland Print Room, ($100,000), Cleveland Museum of Art ($50,000), Ingenuity Cleveland, ($60,000), and others. CAN reached out to a range of organizations to ask questions about what these grants and their cancellation meant to them and the communities they serve. Several were cautious about responding publicly out of concern for any potential damage to their relationship with the agency. Some were working with their boards to decide what to do. Some held out optimism that money already spent could be covered as long as it was claimed before the May 31 deadline.

Here are the questions and answers we posed to Zygote Press and The Sculpture Center.

Jackie Feldman, Zygote Press

Zygote Press had been awarded a grant of $20,000 in support of its Artist Residency programs.

CAN: In a few sentences, please describe the program that had been funded with an NEA grant.

Zygote: The NEA grant was designated to offset Zygote’s expenses associated with Residency Programs. Specifically, the grant pays for approximately 50% of our National, Local, Regional, and Anthony Barthlomew residencies, as well as approximately 25% of our PROOF Fellowship. These residencies provide artists with the individual training in printmaking processes, access to the studio and equipment, project mentoring and support, living quarters, stipends, access to professional networks in Cleveland, and the benefit of a collaborative print shop.

CAN: At what stage of completion was the work?

Zygote: We are 4.5 months into the year, so some residencies have already been awarded and completed, others are in progress, and two haven’t been awarded yet. The PROOF Fellowship, which is a 9-month residency, is in the process of being juried and award notifications will be sent out in the next couple of weeks.

CAN: Had you incurred expenses associated with the grant?

Zygote: Yes, we have already awarded stipends, provided dozens of hours of instructional support, and invested many hours of our team to plan and implement residencies.

CAN: Have any of those expenses been re-paid?

If this question is about the NEA repaying any part of the 2025 award, then the answer is NO.

CAN: What will be the impact of the cancellation of the grant, both on the organization and on the project?

Zygote Press: Zygote will be impacted on two levels.

1. Because we have already expended funds to support residencies that were funded by the NEA grant, we will have to shift resources from other projects and programs to cover those expenditures from our general operating budget. This shift in resources will likely impact the scope of our ability to provide no cost or pay-what-you-can programs to the community, as well as the increased support we planned to provide to our 2025 Artists-in-Residence.

2. If Zygote is unable to recover at least some of the $20,000 we lost when the NEA cancelled our grant through other funding sources, we will have to cancel residencies planned for the latter part of 2025.

CAN: Will you continue the project?

Zygote Press: We will continue with all of the residencies that have already been awarded, and with the PROOF Fellowship. Some of our other funders have stepped in to help offset the loss, and we are hoping our community will help us with individual donations and support during our upcoming annual benefit. Some of the artists in our community have already reached out with offers of donating their art for auction to help us continue our work. We are committed to standing by our mission to deliver access and education to all creatives interested in printmaking.

CAN: Have you followed up with the NEA?

Zyogote Press: No

CAN: Will you appeal or fight for the money in some way?

Zygote Press: This is under discussion.

CAN: Have you contacted your senators and congressional representatives?

Zygote Press: I have as an individual and I encourage others to do the same.

Grace Chin, The Sculpture Center

The Sculpture Center was awarded $40,000 To support a solo exhibition and site-specific installation by Chicago-based Puerto Rican artist Edra Soto.

CAN: In a few sentences, please describe the program that had been funded with an NEA grant.

Sculpture Center: The NEA grant was awarded to TSC in the spring of 2024 to support a site-specific exhibition with nationally recognized Chicago-based Puerto Rican artist Edra Soto, and related outreach and public programming. The program is a two-part exhibition that will feature powerful stories by regional artists and residents from the Latinx community in a permanent outdoor work of art and a large-scale, immersive installation in TSC’s gallery. The outdoor art will be a sculpturally designed bus shelter that will function as a RTA stop in Clark-Fulton at the front of MetroHealth on the corner of Southpointe Drive and Scranton Road.

CAN: At what stage of completion was the work?

Sculpture Center: On May 16, TSC will open Edra Soto’s solo exhibition “La Casa de Todos” and the companion exhibition “La Casa Compartida,” a group exhibition of 11 Cleveland-based artists, primarily LatinX. The public art work “La Distancia” is nearing fabrication with an installation completion date of September 18, 2025. 

CAN: Had you incurred expenses associated with the grant?

Sculpture Center:  This exhibition is nearly two-years into planning. We have incurred artist expenses, community workshops, marketing, a journal comprising writings and artwork by Cleveland creatives, artist honorariums, engineered drawings.

CAN: Have any of those expenses been re-paid?

The Sculpture Center: Of the $40,000 award we have been reimbursed for $34,000.

CAN: What will be the impact of the cancellation of the grant, both on the organization and on the project?

Sculpture Center: We have incurred more than $40,000 in expenses and I am hoping we can recoup the $6,000 remaining from the award. If not, we will need to seek private funders for a project that we already are short on. If we are unable to close the gap we will need to cancel community programming during the run of the exhibition and the “ribbon cutting” of the shelter. 

CAN: Will you continue the project?

Sculpture Center: yes

 CAN: Have you followed up with the NEA?

Sculpture Center: I have reached out to our program officer Meg Brennan through email and have not successfully connected with her.

 CAN: Will you appeal or fight for the money in some way?

Sculpture Center: I have sent an appeal (the process was unclear – an email to an anonymous  grants@arts.gov address).

CAN: Have you contacted your senators and congressional representatives?

Sculpture Center: Not yet! I will be speaking with Councilwoman Santana this afternoon to discuss the shelter and related programming and I will bring up the NEA grant with her.

CAN Journal and CAN Blog will continue to follow the NEA’s grantmaking in the region, as well as the 2026 Fiscal Year budgeting process as it relates to the NEA, NEH, and IMLS.