White House Trickle-Down in the Arts?

Donald Trump’s executive order terminating “diversity, equity, and inclusion discrimination in the federal workforce, and in federal contracting and spending” will have broad impact on the arts and culture. That begins with the National Endowment for the Arts’ recent announcement that, abiding the White House order, the Challenge America Grants program had been cancelled, and its funds re-allocated to support Grants for Arts Projects program (and further, that for the Grants for Arts Projects, “Funding priority will be given for projects that take place in 2026-2027 that celebrate and honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence”).

But that is likely just the beginning. Who could have guessed that we would have the perverse joy of seeing what programming results from Donald Trump appointing himself chairman of the Kennedy Center board?

While Trump’s orders haven’t yet singled out the National Endowment for the Arts or the Humanities for elimination, his provocative budget cutting is not likely to end, and his opposition to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion could certainly infect other levels of government, especially in red state Ohio. (Who could forget the behavior of former Ohio Arts Council board member Susan Alan Block after the January 6 insurrection? Click that link and give thanks that she is no longer serving on that board.)

CAN reached out to the Ohio Arts Council and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture for information and comment on how the President’s recent actions would or wouldn’t trickle down.

Responding for the Ohio Arts Council, Operations and Public Affairs director Justin Nigro confirmed that the OAC has received about $1.3 million annually from the NEA in recent years. That’s less than six percent of its $52 million budget. “All federal dollars are reinvested as grants throughout the state; none are retained for OAC administration,” Nigro said. The NEA is the OAC’s only source of federal funding.

We asked if the President’s views on DEI would impact programs administered by OAC, such as ArtsRise, which is specifically “designed to support organizations working to expand access to activities to more diverse participants, address equity and inclusion in program design, present arts programming of culturally specific* or ethnic organizations, and support“ other programs that engage the BIPOC community, people with disabilities, older adults, Appalachian and rural communities, lower income communities, LGBTQ+ communities, veterans, and justice-impacted citizens. We asked if the President’s views would affect grantmaking panelists’ judgement of organizations’ efforts to support and increase diversity on staffs, boards, audiences, and in programming.

In short, they will not. Nigro says criteria within the agency’s grant Guidelines for FY 2026-2027 have not changed. They remain as approved by the board in October. “As such, the agency expects panelists to read and assess applications using the existing criteria,” Nigro said. “Ultimately, panelists make recommendations to the OAC board, which reviews and approves all funding. This process remains the same as years past.”

CAN also asked if OAC had received any directive with regard to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the new administration, or from the Federal level, and likewise from Governor Dewine, or any Ohio Senator or Congressional representative, or from former Ohio Senator, now Vice President JD Vance.

The answer to all those questions, Nigro said, is “no.”

CAN asked similar questions to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture director Jill Paulsen. “CAC does not receive funding from the federal government,” she said. “CAC also does not make ‘equity-related grants,’ that is – CAC does not make grants or funding decisions on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, disability, or any characteristic protected by law. We have not been contacted by any level of government at this time.”

So that’s good news, at least for now.

Nonetheless, it is worth emphasizing some points, connecting some dots and filling in some blanks for people who are not intimately familiar with arts funding applications.

First, about the NEA’s announcement: The Grants for Arts Projects program is the NEA’s principal grants category. And you read that first paragraph right: By federal mandate now, priority in the NEA’s biggest grant making program will be given to patriotic proposals that “celebrate and honor” the 250th birthday of the United States. So if you want a grant from the NEA next year, make it something patriotic.

No one needs us to remind them of other times in history when national governments have issued declarations about what kind of art is desirable or “degenerate.”

The NEA’s description of the cancelled Challenge America Grants program offers a clue of what else could be coming down the pipe: Those were $10,000 grants designed to reach underserved communities. Prior to its cancellation, the NEA described it as “a good entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding.” So no more of that, at the national level.

People who don’t write grant applications for arts organizations may not know that building diversity, equity and inclusion into boards, staffs, programming and audiences served has been a stated goal of all levels of grant making for decades. Coincidental with the inauguration, Cuyahoga County nonprofit arts organizations –hundreds of organizations—were working toward January 31 deadlines to file year-end reports for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture on their 2024 activities. Even if, as Ms. Paulsen said, “CAC does not make grants or funding decisions on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, disability, or any characteristic protected by law,” those reports do specifically ask about progress toward racial equity goals all those organizations were required to set a year earlier. And on the same day, a document of goals set for the coming year was also required. The form asks about racial backgrounds of board and staff—simply gathering information—and about racial equity goals for the coming year. Those would have to do with programming, with the artists presented, and the people served.

Similarly, a class of nonprofit arts organizations all over Ohio had Sustainability (general operating support) grant applications due February 3. Those applications also have questions about segments of the population served, with the intent being to gather information about public benefit to all the people in the state. Within the narratives, applicants are asked to describe how artists and key personnel “reflect the demographic diversity of the community(s) being served,” and how the organization “engage[s] historically underrepresented populations” with these activities.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a BIG part of arts funding and program intentions, and that’s exactly the nature of the program the President’s order just terminated.

And to be absolutely clear, the work of DEI has been good and necessary (if not without trouble) for the art sector and the community it serves. The inertia of the status quo does not serve the whole population when one group holds most of the money, most of the real-estate, and most of the decision-making. Speaking on behalf of CAN Journal, DEI efforts have helped to make a more accurate representation of the population, and efforts to bolster visibility of a significant part of the population that for decades have not had the economic stability or the social relationships to be a part of the art gallery scene, with all its neighborhood revitalization, all its urgent commentary on public affairs, all its inclusive ideas.

Sarah Sisser, director of the statewide advocacy organization Creative Ohio, recently acknowledged the turmoil coming from Washington in a recent newsletter, but ultimately had a reassuring message. She noted that “While the NEA and NEH would certainly have been, or may still be, affected by the [President’s OMB memo halting payments], they were not targeted or singled out in the original directive.”

She further noted that “While there are concerns about the Trump administration’s support, or lack thereof, for the NEA and NEH, […] both agencies […] have recently benefitted from widespread bipartisan support in Congress. Two members of Ohio’s Republican Congressional delegation hold leadership roles in supporting the arts and humanities and have been outspoken champions of both. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH, 10th District) is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus, and Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH, 15th District) is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Humanities Caucus.”

Similarly, in her farewell letter, outgoing NEA chair Maria Rosario Jackson reassuringly observed that “For nearly six decades the NEA has been at the core of our nation’s cultural life, and it continues to be championed by lawmakers from both Congressional chambers and both sides of the aisle for the many cultural, social, educational, health, and economic benefits that the arts provide to communities across the country.”

But what to do? As Sisser said, “At CreativeOhio, we fundamentally believe in the power of coalition to strengthen our advocacy.” She added these recommendations:

• Bookmark the National Council of Nonprofits’ running list of federal Executive Orders, which will be updated frequently by the Council.

• Read this article from the National Council. “Head on a Swivel Advocacy” helps to give some context for the flurry of Executive Orders.

• Share Your Story: The National Council of Nonprofits has created a form to share how this impacts your mission and the nonprofit sector.

And in the mean time, CAN implores you by all means: keep making art, connecting with people, and in every medium expressing what you think.

It’s a measure of the explosive vomit of executive orders issued since the inauguration that when this post was conceived, it was to acknowledge a local impact of the threat of tariffs. In the middle of January, CAN was offered a three-year new agreement with the company that prints CAN Journal, designed to temper the likely resulting increase in the cost of aluminum. Aluminum is used for printing plates. CAN uses a lot of them. A lot of our aluminum comes from Canada. The tariffs could also affect the cost of paper. A few weeks have passed since then, and print concerns seem a little quaint now. But we’ve got a three-year agreement. CAN is committed.