26 Jan 2017
National endowments for arts and humanities face axe as Trump prepares first formal budget
BY Tom Anstey
The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) has raised extreme concerns over reports that President Donald Trump’s formal budget plan for fiscal year 2018 will eliminate both the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a move which could be potentially devastating to the sector.
With the Trump administration working to reduce federal spending by US$10tn (€9.3tn, £7.9tn) the NEH and NEA programmes look to be among the first on the chopping block.
The NEA, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015 after its founding in 1965, is the US’s largest national funder of not-for-profit arts, annually awarding more than 2,200 grants worth a combined US$140m (€130.5m, £110.8m).
The NEH, founded the same year as the NEA is dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The government currently finances the agency at a cost of US$148m (€138m, £117.1m) annually – 0.003 per cent of the overall 2016 federal budget for the US or $0.46 (€0.43, £0.36) per American citizen.
The NEA was previously targeted by former President Ronald Reagan, who tried to abolish the body when he came into office in 1981. Reagan ended up backtracking after a government-appointed task force charged with finding ways to privatise the arts sector recommended continuing with the existing structure in place. Reagan was also met with resistance in Congress in an attempt to cut NEA funding.
In 1994 Republican speaker Newt Gingrich tried to eliminate both the NEA and NEH, but failed as the Democrats and moderate Republicans rejected the measure. In 1996 then President Bill Clinton cut the NEA’s budget by 39 per cent and the NEH’s by 36 per cent.
“We are extremely concerned by these reports, and the museum field will stand strongly against any effort to gut the important work of NEA and NEH, or any other federal agency supporting the work of museums,” said AAM President and CEO Laura Lott. “These agencies play a uniquely valuable role in helping make the arts and humanities accessible to every American.
“We will need every museum professional, every trustee, and every volunteer to speak with one voice to help preserve these vital agencies. We have the power to make our voices and our priorities heard, and together we – the united museum field – must fight for the ideals we believe in.”
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