A group of senior officials at the National Arts Foundation announced their resignation a few days after the Trump administration began withdrawing grants from art groups across the country.
As the endowment has been withdrawing its current grant offer, President Trump proposed to eliminate the agency entirely next year, which was their departure, and was made public on Monday in a series of emails and social media posts.
A NEA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Those leaving the institution include those responsible for overseeing grants for dance, design, folk and traditional art, museums and visual arts, and drama. Also leaving are directors of the Arts Education, multidisciplinary work and “partner” department, which oversees work with state and local art institutions. The officials announced they began leaving in a newsletter sent by donor agencies at noon Monday.
According to a newsletter sent by Litnet, the institution’s literary and artistic division heads also left with three members of the team.
The announcement of the departure event has put the besieged institutions in greater uncertainty. It is unclear how or if the agency will issue grants without officials at this level. A round of grant cancellation notice issued Friday night indicated that the agency is expected to continue receiving grants, but in areas that Mr. Trump prioritized.
Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the New York Public Theater and one of the leaders of the professional nonprofit theater alliance, said the resignation of the staff was “worrying”. He added that while he did not criticize anyone for leaving, he feared that leaving could make it easier to eliminate the agency.
Mr. Eustis condemned the cancellation of the already committed funds, which he said was particularly painful for small arts organizations across the country.
“It’s not any thoughtful, targeted reassessment of what the NEA should support – it’s a huge comprehensive kickback for theaters across the country, many of whom rely on that money,” he said. “For that, this is done to subvert the premise of its establishment. In every congressional district, they are undermining and undermining institutions across the country.”
Many outgoing officials will leave donations at the end of this month as part of their plan to postpone their resignation. Some are retirement. In many cases, the art field director not only leaves, but the staff are.
The National Art Endowment Foundation, founded in 1965, is an independent federal agency that allocates grants to art organizations and state art institutions across the country. Its budget is $207 million in 2024, and the financial report that year said it provided more than $163 million in grants.
Art institutions across the country are scrambling over the weekend to figure out how to move forward without the federal funding they are counting on.
Some say they will appeal the rejection grant specified in the cancellation notice. Others have launched fundraising appeals, trying to fill the gap with private philanthropy.
The Portland Theatre in Oregon said donors have stepped up replacing the evacuated $25,000 NEA grant to produce August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Ove and Oves,” after news of the layoffs were made public. On Monday, the theater’s leadership said it was starting a statewide fundraising campaign to help other arts organizations in Oregon, and the cancellation of the NEA grant cancellation has ended at least $590,000 in arts funding in the state.
