Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship, The Authors Guild, The Dramatists Guild of America, The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Artists at Risk Connection, AICA International and PEN America expressed deep concern over the Trump Administration’s recent moves to impose ideological control over federally funded cultural programs. Though some of these efforts have already been hindered by a court injunction, they nonetheless signal a worrying departure from the longstanding democratic principle that the government may not interfere with artistic expression because of hostility toward its viewpoint. . Rather than fostering a diverse and vibrant cultural landscape, the administration appears intent on turning government-supported arts programs into instruments of political messaging.
The statement speaks to recent announcements from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), that future applicants for federal grants must adhere to the president’s Executive Orders, including those that prohibit funding organizations with any “discriminating” programs promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or for any programs that promote what the administration refers to as “gender ideology.” Around the same time that these changes were communicated, President Trump declared himself Chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, dismissing board members and its president while stating its leadership would align with his “vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture” and ensure selections are “not going to be ‘woke.’” developments mark a stark departure from the founding premise of the NEA and NEH, which were intended to “enable [Americans] to recognize and appreciate […] the diversity of excellence that comprises our cultural heritage, and artistic and scholarly expression.” They also upend the Kennedy Center’s tradition of bipartisan leadership in the arts. In NCAC’s sign-on statement, the organizations warned that these moves threaten to turn federally-funded institutions into tools of government propaganda, starving independent artistic expression and endangering democracy itself.
“These efforts to make federally-funded arts programs the mouthpiece of the presidential administration should be concerning not just to artists, creatives, cultural organizations, and scholars, but to all Americans—regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum or their taste in art,” stated Elizabeth Larison, Director of the Arts & Culture Advocacy Program at the National Coalition Against Censorship. “A robust, free, independent cultural sphere is a hallmark of a democratic society, and the Trump Administration’s recent actions imply a desire to wrest control over culture.”
Read ACAP’s full letter to here:
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