Latest news with #artsFunding
CNN
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Museum programs like this one could be history after Trump's cuts
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty visits the African American museum in Boston, which has been impacted by the Trump administration's cuts to funding for the arts.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Finance Committee moves to nix New Hampshire's arts council amid budget woes
The Capitol Center for the Arts in downtown Concord on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin) Another effort to prevent New Hampshire's State Council on the Arts from being eliminated during the state budgeting process has fallen short. New Hampshire state senators have spent the last few weeks working through the state budget. After the Senate Ways and Means Committee projected that state revenues — which have been lagging in recent years — would rebound faster than House predictions, the Senate Finance Committee has been identifying cuts made by the House that the Senate can undo. The committee recommendations so far include reversing a 3% cut to Medicaid reimbursement rates and restoring funding for developmental disability services. However, on Wednesday, the committee didn't do the same for the State Council on the Arts, which the House eliminated in its version of the budget. The Senate Finance Committee voted, 5-3, not to restore the council during a work session Wednesday. Gov. Kelly Ayotte had included funding of roughly $1.7 million over two years for the council in her budget proposal. The council was also set to receive an additional $2 million in federal funds. Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat and one of the three dissenting votes on the Finance Committee, pushed for the arts council to be restored Wednesday, saying, 'the arts help drive the economy.' Sen. David Watters, a Dover Democrat, said the arts are 'so deeply woven into the fabric of the state and always have been and (are) something that helps define our identity.' 'It supports traditional arts programs, it supports the thriving arts community all around the state,' Watters said. 'I think we should at least restore it to the governor's level.' Republicans on the committee disagreed. 'I do think the Council of the Arts is important,' Sanborton Republican Sen. Tim Lang said. 'But in this tough budget cycle where we're balancing the needs versus the wants, a $3 million add is probably not appropriate for a want.' Lang proposed an amendment that establishes a state fund that can accept donations. The council would become a volunteer council, and the state would appropriate $1 to the fund, a procedure mechanism to create it. He noted that many other councils in the state are voluntary. 'So the council could go out and get corporate sponsors and donations,' Lang said. 'They'll be able to use those donations to get federal matching grants, and it'd allow them to at least continue in some way, shape, or form their mission and their goal.' Watters pushed back against the amendment. He said if the state is not putting money toward it, the arts can't complete its mission. 'If there's no funding, there's no arts council,' Watters said. 'Let's face it.' The committee voted, 5-3, to approve Lang's amendment. The Council on the Arts could still be restored if an amendment is introduced to the budget when the full Senate votes on it in June. If the Council on the Arts isn't restored, New Hampshire would become the only U.S. state not to have such a council, according to the National Endowment for the Arts website. New Hampshire's State Council on the Arts receives federal support from the Endowment for the Arts. Hearing the news Wednesday, Ayotte told reporters she was disappointed in the Senate Finance Committee's recommendation. Her budget proposal, which projected state revenues would be higher than both the House and Senate estimates, pared down funding for the council but did not eliminate it entirely. 'I've been very clear: I do support the arts,' Ayotte said. 'I think it's really part of the culture of our state, but as we think about our travel and tourism and attracting people to New Hampshire, the arts are a part of our economic development as well.'
CBS News
10-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Dallas bookstore faces funding cuts amid Trump administration's budget changes
A local Dallas bookstore and publishing company is losing its federal arts funding. This comes as the Trump administration said it is making budget cuts to several different sectors, including the arts. CBS News Texas Deep Vellum bookstore is more than just a store; it's also a community for many. "It's a big opportunity for independent writers, independent thought," said Erin Demir, a customer. "It's extremely important because you get to experience the perspectives of people, other than just what's mainstream." Founded 10 years ago, it's helped over 1,500 local and Texas-based writers get published through its publishing branch. Ideas, thoughts, and works that the owner,r Will Evans, said a commercial publisher would never consider. "Writers from your own backyard, your own neighborhood, you have no idea what we've been missing, and the NEA gives us a chance to support those kinds of voices and to make that dialogue happen at a city-wide and cultural level," Evans told CBS News Texas. On Friday, the nonprofit was notified that the National Endowment for the Arts grant it was awarded is being terminated because it no longer "aligns" with the Trump administration's priorities. This news comes just days after the president proposed getting rid of the agency entirely from the federal budget. "We feel frustrated because it is such a good and this grant that was terminated, we applied for 18 months ago," said Evans. "This has nothing to do with budget cuts, this is about a value proposition that arts don't matter to everyone." Deep Vellum is just one of at least 11 organizations in the metroplex that received NEA grants for 2025. CBS News Texas reached out to the NEA for comment, but they did not get back to us. Evans said these cuts could alter how they publish local works moving forward. "It's an important part of our annual budget," Evans said. "So, we're going to have to look for more diverse sources of funding to be able to support these kinds of work, and we hope we're able to find that; otherwise, we're going to lose out on potential literary voices." Now more than ever, Demir is urging others to shop local. "Come and show your support, buy books," she said.
