As you might have heard, President Trump has called for the complete elimination of the National Endowment for 
the Arts and the National Endowment for Humanities – the first U.S. president to do so.
“Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America.”
What you can do:
1. Take 10 minutes to write or call your federal and state officials and insist that they vote to preserve funding for these agencies.
2. Share! Use the power of your family, business, and social media connections (use #SavetheNEA) to ask your networks to call and write, as well. Particularly vulnerable are communities in rural areas where the only access to arts and culture is via public radio and organizations funded by the NEA/NEH that bring works into schools and provide educational programs via tours and mobile learning centers.
How:
Need Talking points? Both Jane Chu, Chairman of the NEA, and Robert Lynch, President of Americans for the Arts issued formal statements today. Of course the best talking points come from your heart and personal experiences.
Need to find your elected officials? Use the action center to find and email them.
This is such a crucial issue, not just for OP, but for the preservation of beauty, art, heritage, cultural understanding, childhood education, and the livelihood of millions of artists and practitioners who rely on federal funding to produce great works across all genres to stimulate our hearts, minds, and souls.
Thank you,
Nicole Paiement, Artistic Director and Debbie Chinn, Executive Director