The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has issued new guidelines for its arts grants for individuals, museums, and organizations.
The federal arts agency will now prioritize funding initiatives that “celebrate and honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence” for its upcoming application cycle for Fiscal Year 2026 (beginning September 2025), the NEA announced in a press release on Thursday, February 6.
Amid President Donald Trump’s crackdowns on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the federal government, the NEA is also scrapping its Challenge America grants, which earmarked funds for small arts organizations that extended outreach to underserved communities that may have limited funding opportunities.
One such 2025 grant was awarded in January to the Three Rivers Art Council in North Dakota to launch a Native artists’ residency with an emphasis on engaging students and the public through programming. More than 270 other small arts organizations were awarded $2.7 million in grants for the Fiscal Year 2025.
Grants for Arts Projects will continue, the agency said in an announcement, but the NEA postponed the program’s February 13 deadline until March 11 and will require applicants who have already submitted to fill out a new application.
Applicants now face new eligibility barriers, including a new requirement for a minimum “5-year history of arts programming before the application deadline.”
More guidelines on the grant applications will be available no later than February 10, according to the NEA website, and a webinar covering the new requirements will take place on February 18.
Under the Biden Administration, the NEA celebrated increasing first-time grant applicant rates, according to a now-deleted “Equity Action Plan” webpage detailing “early accomplishments” under a Biden-era executive order mandating equity plans in the federal government. The since-removed website described initiatives to expand access to grants, including the translation of its guidelines into Spanish and Chinese and increasing engagement with historically Black colleges and universities and Native communities.
An NEA spokesperson told Hyperallergic that the new guidelines will not affect the $36.8 million in grants to 1,474 individual artists, organizations, and museums across the United States in the first round of its Fiscal Year 2025 awards announced in January. The second round of announcements, which typically distributes significantly more award money, is expected to be released sometime in spring and will also not be affected.
Last week, a spokesperson for the NEA told Hyperallergic the agency was “currently reviewing the recent Executive Orders (EO) and accompanying guidance from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure compliance and provide the required reporting,” following Trump’s rescinded federal funding cuts and several anti-DEI and anti-trans mandates.
The NEA announced that it is scrapping its Challenge America grants and focusing on projects related to the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
