National Endowment for the Arts grants program remade to prioritize celebration of America's 250th birthday

The National Endowment for the Arts has made substantial changes to their funding guidelines in the wake of the Trump administration's change in priorities and will now focus on arts funding for projects that celebrate the United States of America. This comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on "Celebrating America's 250th Birthday."

The full granting guidelines from the NEA are below if you know of an arts group that should apply for this funding to create art that celebrates American values, history, or events. 

"The Challenge America opportunity is canceled for FY 2026," the NEA said in a release. "Organizations that have applied or were planning to apply to the FY 2026 Challenge America grant opportunity are encouraged to apply to the Grants for Arts Projects category at the March or July deadlines instead." Only those arts applicants who "have completed a five-year history of arts programming prior to the application deadline" are eligible to apply.

"Under the updated guidelines, the NEA continues to encourage projects that celebrate the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity by honoring the semiquincentennial of the United States of America (America250)," the NEA said. Applicants to the Grants for Arts Projects "can include incorporating an America250-related component or focus within a larger project."

People who work in the arts are displeased by the change. One woman, who said she works at an arts organization, thought it was just insane that her group would now have to come up with projects that "celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence."

The Art Newspaper called the priority shift a "casualty" and part of the Trump administration's "quest to shut down federally funded diversity, equity and inclusion" programs. They complain that arts groups that already applied will have to reapply under the new guidelines. Artnet called it "chaos." Still others urged groups to go collect their arts grants now if they had already been awarded so that the money doesn't disappear in the interim.

However, Americans for the Arts head Jamie Bennett said "I don't think this is a hair-on-fire moment," noting that plans to celebrate the American semiquincentennial were already underway under the Biden administration. There are also less staffers on hand to review grant proposals, so trimming the number of programs to which a grantee can apply will be more efficient.

Many news outlets, like The New York Times, Washington Post, and others framed the change as an elimination of funding for "underserved" communities. But all of those who qualified under the Challege America program are encouraged to apply for the new program, but must shift the focus of their service to underserved communities to celebrate America.

The agency, established in 1965 with the mission of "advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice," has canceled their Challenge America grant for "underserved" communities. Instead, the arts funder will prioritize funding for projects "that celebrate and honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence." The NEA got $207 million in 2024 in federal appropriations.

The Challenge America granting program was in support of "arts projects in many artistic disciplines including Artist Communities, Arts Education, Dance, Design, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Media Arts, Museums, Music, Musical Theater, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Arts, Theater, and Visual Arts," and was specifically designed for projects that "extend the reach of the arts to underserved groups/communities." The amount of these grants was $10,000 per recipient and that recipient group was required to raise or provide a matching $10,000 and was only available to first time applicants.

The NEA had also received $135 million under the American Rescue Plan, which was intended to get Americans back on their feet after the Covid pandemic of 2020-21. Of those funds, 40% went to state or regional arts agencies while another 60% went to competitive granting programs. The NEA also got $75 million under the CARES Act with the mission "to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally, to be distributed in grants." The only groups eligible for those grants, however, were "previous NEA award recipients from FY2017 to FY2020."

Trump has also determined to clear the Board of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and install himself as chair. As part of the remaking of the premiere arts venue, he will eliminate drag shows for children from being performed on Kennedy Center stages. "I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture," he said.

In response, the Kennedy Center issued a statement, saying that some members of the Board had "received termination notices from the administration." They say further that nothing like this has happened previously. "There is nothing in the Center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board," the Kennedy Center said.
 

1. FY26 GAP Grant Program Details FebRevFinal3 by The Post Millennial on Scribd