Latest news with #NationalEndowmentfortheHumanities
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Cut Funds From Wasteful Projects To Spend on Wasteful Statue Garden
President Donald Trump has pledged to cut government waste, but hasn't delivered much on that front so far. Even when his administration has cut from seemingly obvious sources—for example, federal funding for arts and humanities—Trump has simply redirected federal spending toward sources closer to his heart. During his first term, Trump signed executive orders calling for the creation of the National Garden of American Heroes, which was to contain 250 statues of "historically significant Americans…who have contributed positively to America throughout our history." In April, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) began taking applications from sculptors. The plan is for the garden to open on July 4, 2026—the 250th anniversary of American independence. That's a rather ambitious turnaround time. "America doesn't have enough quality sculptors or museum-caliber foundries to make this happen on Trump's speedy timeline," Politico's Michael Schaffer wrote this week. "Many U.S. fine-art foundries are booked anywhere from six to 18 months in advance. There also aren't many of them." As a result, "faster production often involves partnering with Chinese or other foreign facilities." There is also, as yet, no site chosen for the garden (though South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden recommended a plot of land near Mount Rushmore, which its owner offered to donate). Trump has very exacting standards, dictating that "all statues must be life-size and made of marble, granite, bronze, copper, or brass," and "lifelike or realistic representations of the persons they depict, not abstract or modernist representations." "The biggest collection of artisans and fabricators working in Trump's preferred old-school realist style turns out to be in China, not the U.S.," Schaffer wrote. The list of figures to be honored ranges from historical heroes to entertainers and seemingly everyone in between. More to the point, the garden would involve a large expenditure of taxpayer funds. "The National Endowment for the Humanities has canceled most of its grant programs and started putting staff on administrative leave," Jennifer Schuessler of the The New York Times reported in April. "[Acting NEH Chairman Michael] McDonald told senior leadership that upward of 85 percent of the agency's hundreds of current grants were to be canceled." But even while making those cuts, the administration is shelling out for the statue garden: Schuessler later reported that the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts would collectively contribute $34 million to the project. The NEH application says artists will receive up to $200,000 per commissioned statue and they are expected to start working on October 1. But even apart from the issues with foundry capacity, artists are unlikely to be able to create quality life-size statues on that budget and in that time frame. Last year, the U.S. Capitol added a seven-foot bronze statue of the evangelist Billy Graham to its halls. The North Carolina state government commissioned the figure in 2020, and it took four years to complete, at a cost of $650,000. Trump's order is now calling for hundreds of artists to design, sculpt, and smelt hundreds of similar sculptures, at one-third the cost and on a much shorter timeline. The statute of Graham—who is listed for inclusion in Trump's garden—is also instructive: There is already a place within the U.S. Capitol for displaying statues of honored Americans, as each state submits two statues for display in the National Statuary Hall. And the statue of Graham cost taxpayers nothing, as the construction was funded entirely by donations to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, with no direct state funding whatsoever. This should offer lessons for Trump's National Garden of American Heroes. If somebody wants to donate land, they're free to do so; if others want statues of certain historical Americans included, they're welcome to give money to the cause. But there's no reason the federal government has to play a role. The post Trump Cut Funds From Wasteful Projects To Spend on Wasteful Statue Garden appeared first on
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Performers and opera lovers see ‘The Central Park Five' as a show of resistance against Trump
But adding it to the calendar also forced officials to consider how Trump could react to the production if he won a second term as president, said Yuval Sharon, artistic director at the opera house. Advertisement 'As soon as the election happened last November, we did think to ourselves, how can we best prepare our audience and prepare our community to know what they're about to see when they come to the Detroit opera,' Sharon said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In true theater fashion, they decided to let the show go on, unaware that audiences would take their seats as Trump pursues dramatic changes to the arts in the U.S. He fired the Kennedy Center board, replaced them with loyalists and took over as board chair. He wrote on social media that members of the previous board 'do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.' Trump then took aim at the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities through proposed budget cuts. And earlier this month, he authorized a 100% tariff 'on any and all' foreign-produced movies coming into the U.S. Advertisement 'Muggers and murderers' Debuting in 2019, 'The Central Park Five' opera won the Pulitzer Prize for music the following year. It has also been performed in Portland, Oregon, and Long Beach, California. So far, no other performances are on its calendar. At its heart are the events leading up to the arrests, convictions and imprisonment of Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise. The teens said their confessions to police were coerced. To many, the five came to embody the damage caused by a racist belief in out-of-control crime perpetrated by youths of color. Trump added fuel with full-page ads in New York newspapers. 'I want to hate these muggers and murderers,' Trump wrote in an ad in Newsday. 'They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes.' 'It started with his demonizing five young boys, calling for the death penalty, and really exploiting the underlying racial animus that existed and racial anxiety in New York,' composer Anthony Davis said. 'That's become his playbook ever since, whether he's demonizing immigrants or he's demonizing trans people or he's demonizing homosexuals or demonizing anyone that he can view as the other.' The convictions of the five were vacated in 2002 after evidence linked a serial rapist to the crime. As president in 2019, Trump refused to apologize to the men, saying 'they admitted their guilt.' The opera includes a performer portraying Trump. 'We didn't make it more critical or less critical (of Trump),' Sharon said of the opera. 'What they did with this piece is they took Trump's own words and they set that to music. Ninety-five percent of the libretto is directly from the language that Trump used to insert himself in this story.' Advertisement Resistance by creating and performing 'The Central Park Five' played for three dates in May in Detroit and people associated with the production said they experienced no significant backlash. Some in the arts community said moving forward with the performance was a sign of resistance — a mirror of artists or productions backing out of performances at the Kennedy Center to protest Trump's takeover. 'This is a stifling of the truth. This is a stifling of art,' performer Nathan Granner said of efforts to erase federal funding for arts programs. Granner, 43, has portrayed Korey Wise since the opera's launch. He says it did cross his mind with these performances whether opponents to the show could become violent. 'Is somebody going to come in and shoot up the building?' he said. 'They did very well in hiring extra security. We always felt safe.' With the performances done, Granner now wonders whether Trump's approach to the arts will shape audience interest and reactions in productions and other creations that don't fit with the president's idea of fine art. 'With the way the political climate is, I don't really foresee (another performance of 'The Central Park Five' opera) in the states in the next few years," Granner said, adding that if the opportunity arises, he would reprise the role of Wise.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Thiel College receives NEH grant to integrate digital tools into humanities courses
GREENVILLE — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Thiel College a $59,857 Spotlight on the Humanities in Higher Education development grant to support the integration of digital tools and literacy into general education courses in English, history and philosophy. Professor of History and Department Chair David Buck is the grant director for the project, 'Integrating the Digital into Thiel College's Humanities.' It involves interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty members from the college's English, history and philosophy departments. Participating faculty members include Jay Donis, assistant professor of history; Sheila Gross, assistant professor of English and director of the Dietrich Honors Institute; Jared Johnson, professor of English; and Matthew Morgan, professor of philosophy. The initiative focuses on three key areas: expanding student access to digital tools, strengthening digital and information literacy, and fostering campus-wide dialogue about digital skillsets in the humanities. Faculty will develop new courses and course modules incorporating tools such as artificial intelligence, website design, and other digital platforms. The initiative also aims to equip students with the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills necessary to navigate and evaluate digital environments. 'Our goal is to help students become more engaged and informed digital citizens by grounding digital learning in the values and practices of the humanities,' Buck said. Thiel's project is one of 68 funded through the NEH's latest round of grants totaling $9.55 million, which support humanities research, education, preservation, and public programming nationwide. Other institutions receiving grants include the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Johns Hopkins University and Michigan State University. 'The grants awarded today reflect the breadth and vitality of scholarship, preservation, and public programs across the humanities,' said NEH Acting Chairman Michael McDonald.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Thiel College receives NEH grant to integrate digital tools into humanities courses
GREENVILLE — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Thiel College a $59,857 Spotlight on the Humanities in Higher Education development grant to support the integration of digital tools and literacy into general education courses in English, history and philosophy. Professor of History and Department Chair David Buck is the grant director for the project, 'Integrating the Digital into Thiel College's Humanities.' It involves interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty members from the college's English, history and philosophy departments. Participating faculty members include Jay Donis, assistant professor of history; Sheila Gross, assistant professor of English and director of the Dietrich Honors Institute; Jared Johnson, professor of English; and Matthew Morgan, professor of philosophy. The initiative focuses on three key areas: expanding student access to digital tools, strengthening digital and information literacy, and fostering campus-wide dialogue about digital skillsets in the humanities. Faculty will develop new courses and course modules incorporating tools such as artificial intelligence, website design, and other digital platforms. The initiative also aims to equip students with the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills necessary to navigate and evaluate digital environments. 'Our goal is to help students become more engaged and informed digital citizens by grounding digital learning in the values and practices of the humanities,' Buck said. Thiel's project is one of 68 funded through the NEH's latest round of grants totaling $9.55 million, which support humanities research, education, preservation, and public programming nationwide. Other institutions receiving grants include the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Johns Hopkins University and Michigan State University. 'The grants awarded today reflect the breadth and vitality of scholarship, preservation, and public programs across the humanities,' said NEH Acting Chairman Michael McDonald.
Time Magazine
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Elizabeth Alexander
Few people have had careers that have championed diversity on as many fronts as Elizabeth Alexander. She has focused on the cause as a scholar, a writer, a teacher, an artist, and now as president of the $7.9 billion Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest funder of the arts and humanities in the U.S. So how does she feel about the rollback of diversity initiatives that she has spent most of her working life championing? 'Absolutely laser- focused, undauntedly focused, on the values that our work contains,' she says. 'And on the assertion that America is a richly and powerfully multi-vocal, multi-experiential democracy.' In April, after President Donald Trump's cost-cutting team deemed that much of the funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library studies was wasteful, Mellon stepped in. 'We had grantees calling us, panicked, some of them unable to continue their projects and run their organizations,' says Alexander. 'We made a $15 million grant to the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and they will redistribute that money in all of the states and the six territories, so that these projects for now can carry forward.' That won't keep the lights on at all the reading groups, literary festivals, and free college classes that American taxpayers previously funded. But it has already spurred at least one philanthropist to make a matching grant of $250,000 to the Alabama State Humanities Council—and that, Alexander says, is the goal. 'Always in philanthropy, we are hoping that because of our extraordinary teams, and the power of the grantees, that others will be more able to see what those folks are doing and get excited about it and think about supporting it,' she says. Since arriving at the Mellon Foundation in 2018, after stints in academia and a concurrent career as a writer—she read one of her poems at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration—Alexander has used a social justice lens to examine the institution's grantmaking. 'We are trying to tell and lift up as broad a swath of American stories as possible,' she says. One of her signature initiatives has been the $500 million multi-year Monuments Project, which memorializes lesser-known figures and events from American history in public spaces. These can take the form of museum installations, statues, murals, or even a book of calligraphy, as in the case of The Ireichō, which lists the names of the 125,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated to internment camps during World War II. In February, Mellon announced a $35 million grant to help preserve the legacy of jazz, a uniquely American art form. Also new in 2025: a fellowship program that provides older jazz musicians with a $100,000 grant, plus extra cash for housing and other needs, so they can make and preserve their music. Alexander is energized by her fellow philanthropists' responses to the federal funding cuts and elimination of DEI programs. 'As much as this is a challenging time, it's actually a very powerful time in philanthropy, because people are coming together,' she says. Her hope is that by bringing these stories to light, people will begin to appreciate that American life is made richer by the differences of its varied communities. 'How do we emphasize and support… the critical thinking that allows people to learn and understand that you can tell more than one story at a time?' she asks. 'That allows people to ask the questions of how power works and what has been included and what has not been included, and how we can tell and uphold all of our history.' Though her day-to-day focus can vary, Alexander sees her books, her scholarship, and her administrative and grant-making work as all of a piece. What has surprised her about philanthropy is how sweeping its effects can be: teachers' work lives on in their students, writers' work lives on in the minds and lives of their readers, but philanthropists' work has visible ripple effects for generations. 'The reach of the work that people are doing is infinite,' she says.
