Shake-ups are continuing at the National Endowment for the Arts as a number of senior officials are resigning from the federal agency. On Friday, May 2, the Trump Administration announced their proposal to dismantle the agency as part of the 2026 federal budget. The NEA then sent out notices to theatres around the country revoking their grant funding. Now, many NEA staffers are leaving the agency.
Among them is Greg Reiner, the NEA鈥檚 director of theatre and musical theatre; and Tracey Alperstein, grants management specialist in musical theatre. In a letter sent to a number of supporters, Reiner wrote that a number of NEA staffers were given an offer to leave through the Deferred Resignation Program, a program offered to federal employees where they can resign or retire in exchange for a severance package that includes continued pay and benefits. A number of other directors that oversee grants in dance, design, visual arts, folk and traditional art, and museums were also offered a similar buyout.
Reiner鈥檚 last day at the NEA will be May 30. Wrote Reiner, who was appointed to the NEA in 2015: 鈥淪erving you all through my work here has been the honor of a lifetime. Seeing firsthand the power of theatre to transform lives for the better through the work you are doing across our nation has been a privilege and an inspiration. I am forever grateful for this opportunity, and for the team I have had the great fortune to work with.鈥� He then added in the letter that the NEA's theatre division now has two workers remaining.
The NEA has a current operating budget of $207 million, which it uses to fund arts projects in multiple disciplines across every Congressional district in the country. The NEA has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, which helped it survive during the first Trump Administration. Even though it takes a majority vote in Congress to dismantle the federal agency, the departure of its many personnel will have an adverse impact on the NEA. Those remaining will now face greater challenges in reviewing grant applications and issuing grants.
Ben Stone, the agency鈥檚 director of design and creative placemaking, is also leaving the NEA May 30. In a Facebook post, a message directed at artists: 鈥淎s I prepare to leave the NEA at a time when its future is as uncertain as it has ever been, I鈥檝e found myself returning to the original enabling legislation that created the NEA 60 years ago. The agency was conceived as an integral part of the larger arts and design ecosystem, supporting creativity alongside partners in local and state government, the private and philanthropic sectors, and academia. Our goal has always been to 'help create and sustain not only a climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry but also the material conditions facilitating the release of this creative talent.' Thank you for the important work that so many of you do in making this dream a reality.鈥�
The agency had been expected to provide $3.73 million this year to 148 theatres; it is not yet clear how many theatres had their funding revoked. 半岛体育 has continued to receive reports from numerous theatres in New York and around the country who will no longer receive their previously approved grant funding. Every organization received a form letter saying that the agency was pulling funding in order to prioritize projects that are of interest to President Trump, which include projects that 鈥渃elebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, [and] empower houses of worship to serve communities.鈥�
Many organizations have pointed out that the grants were recalled on a wide level without any consideration for individual projects. East West Players, a company in Los Angeles has reported that its $20,000 NEA grant as been rescinded鈥攄espite the NEA letter stating that the agency was focused on works that 鈥渟upport the economic development of Asian American communities.鈥� East West, which exclusively produces work centering on the Asian American experience, called the NEA鈥檚 decision 鈥渟urprising, disappointing, and revealing鈥WP is based in Little Tokyo, one of the few remaining Japantowns in the country and every cut to our programs hurts the broader Little Tokyo community.鈥�
As more theatres are publicizing the loss of their NEA grants, they鈥檝e also been launching fundraising campaigns. Portland Playhouse in Oregon had a $25,000 grant revoked, which was going to support a production of Joe Turner鈥檚 Come and Gone by August Wilson. After the theatre publicized the loss on social media over the weekend, individual donors stepped and within 36 hours, the theatre was able to raise over $25,000. It鈥檚 now launched a to help support 27 other arts organizations in Oregon, which now has a cumulative funding loss of $590,000.
Other organizations, such as the Public Theater, have called on audiences to not just donate to theatres, but to pressure lawmakers to preserve the NEA. The Creative Coalition, a non-profit arts advocacy organization, urged its supporters to contact their Senators and representatives in Congress.
鈥淭he arts are not a luxury; they are a necessity for a thriving society. Alongside preserving and spreading our cultural heritage, arts exposure results in higher academic achievement, social cohesion, and mental wellness,鈥� said Tim Daly, actor and President of The Creative Coalition, in a statement. 鈥淣EA-supported programs bring these benefits through visual arts, music, theatre, and dance to American communities. Slashing arts funding would endanger not only these benefits but also the cultural legacy we pass on to future generations.鈥�
