Last week, the National Endowment for the Arts continued a 60-year tradition by announcing 1,474 awards totaling $36.8 million to support specific arts projects in all 50 states, including 22 in Colorado totaling $435,000.
The uneasy question on everyone’s uneasy minds right now is an obvious one: Will federal funding for the arts survive under the incoming administration?
One foreboding signal: Today, Wednesday, NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson abruptly resigned, effective immediately, saying she was “grateful to have worked with an administration that believes in the power of the arts.”
The Biden administration brought about the largest-ever increase to the NEA’s budget, though its $207 million line item pales in comparison to, say, the National Science Foundation, which has a budget of more than $9 billion. Arts funding swallows up all of 0.004% of the federal budget.
During his first administration, Donald Trump tried to eliminate both the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities but couldn’t quite get it done. Observers …