A group of over 400 artists has penned a letter to the National Endowment for the Arts urging them to stop adhering to President Trump’s orders and eliminate limitations on grants for projects promoting diversity and gender ideology. This campaign was led by Annie Dorsen, a theater director and writer, and aims to reverse the new regulations imposed under Trump’s executive orders that restrict federal grant applicants from promoting diversity and gender ideology.
The letter highlights the importance of the NEA’s mission to create an environment where the arts benefit everyone in the United States and calls for the organization to uphold these values by reverting the compliance requirements. It emphasizes the detrimental effects of compromising values and the consequences of obedience to authoritarianism.
Despite recent cancellations of grants under the Challenge America program, the NEA continues to encourage applications that celebrate America’s artistic heritage and creativity in light of the semiquincentennial of the United States. Additionally, the NEA remains open to funding projects centered on disability, specific genders, or racial groups.
The letter expresses disappointment in the NEA’s decision to align with Trump’s executive orders and calls for a reversal of these changes to ensure the arts community’s values are upheld. It emphasizes the arts’ role in times of political crisis as a source of memory, imagination, and vision, urging the NEA to stand against any further restrictions.
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