Bloomberg Philanthropies, Surdna, Andrew W. Mellon and Ford Foundation Sign Joint Statement Defending NEA Against Proposed Trump Budget
A couple weeks ago, President Trump released his 2019 budget proposal, which, among other things, called for the dissolution of the National Endowment for the Arts. This week, the heads of 11 major national foundations — the Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Surdna Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Bush Foundation, Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, Ford Foundation, and McKnight Foundation — signed a joint statement in opposition to the proposed funding cuts.
The statement follows in the footsteps of other cultural institutions — such as the 11 arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School, that make up Lincoln Center — calling for continued NEA funding. Last year, 24 senators signed a similar letter.
As the joint foundation statement reads, the budget proposal “has the potential both to end valuable direct investments in our local communities and to dismantle tremendous partnerships with philanthropy that have strengthened our country.” It cites the NEA’s Exploring Our Town initiative, which funds collaborative projects and partnerships between local governments and their artistic communities, as an inspiration for the organizations coming together to fund ArtPlace America: “Some seven years ago, it was the then Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts who was able to bring us together as foundation leaders because his agency had a strong history of investing in each of our communities.”
In the 2018 fiscal year, as of February 12, the NEA had awarded 1,134 grants totaling $26.68 million to organizations and individuals in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In 2016, the agency’s budget was approximately 0.004% of total federal spending...