The arts in Memphis are here to stay — that much is certain, as evidenced by all the exhibitions, markets, fairs, plays, musicals, ballets, and operas listed here. With so much to look forward to and appreciate, it’s hard to imagine a reality in which the arts could be under attack.
But now, due to the government shutdown, the future of National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funding is in limbo as their budgets await congressional approval. President Donald Trump has threatened to eliminate both agencies altogether. Already, we’ve witnessed the abrupt cancellation of millions of dollars in funding for the NEA and NEH, the agencies citing a re-prioritization under the Trump administration to “not preference some groups at the expense of others” — or as Susie Surkamer, former president and CEO of South Arts, sees it: “a de-emphasis on inclusivity.”
South Arts, which funds artists and organizations throughout the region, lost around $5 million in NEA funding. The Blues City Cultural Center lost $25,000 in NEH funding for its Storied Place project to celebrate Orange Mound. University of Memphis’ historian Aram Goudsouzian and professor Josef Hanson lost their NEH and NEA grants, respectively; in progress were a book on the Civil Rights Movement and rise of televised sports, and research on local and regional BIPOC artist-entrepreneurs (Hanson says in an email the he was able to spend his funds before the final accounting deadline after his grant termination).
When Collage Dance Collective learned of the cancellation of its $25,000 NEA grant, executive director Marcellus Harper says, “The short story was that basically the funding priorities had shifted, and our project was not deemed in line with the new criteria. And they probably used a whole lot of other words, too, but that was the gist of it.”
Collage’s intended project was a ballet retelling of the story of Romeo and Juliet. “We wanted to make it more relatable,” Harper says. “We wanted to ground it in some topics that were relevant for our community, so we really wanted to explore colorism, which is something that is a big deal in not just the Black community, but also within ballet itself.”
While Harper and the dance company remain excited for the vision, the show itself, with the loss of funding, is “on the back-burner.” “We’re in a space where we’re very nervous about what the impact is on additional government funding, what that means for private donations,” Harper says. “Being ambitious with the art and taking risks, or being bold in that area, we’ve had to really pull back, for now at least.”
As Harper explains, receiving an NEA grant is “like a badge of honor” from one of the top arts agencies in the country. Losing it feels like losing more than just money.
For young organizations especially, these types of grants are paths to sustainability and legitimacy, a path WYXR has been on for the past five years. For the Memphis-based public radio station, receiving a Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) grant has been a “North Star” over the years, says Jared “Jay B.” Boyd, WYXR’s program manager. This most recent fiscal year, the station finally got one: $85,000, amounting to 10 percent of its budget.
In mid-July, the funding was pulled. “Our immediate reaction was we went into a war room the next day to decide how we could get the word out about what we’ve been going through,” says. “We wanted to convey how serious what had just happened was.”
WYXR won’t shut its doors, but $85,000 is a lot of money. “And it was already built into our budget. It was already promised to us,” Boyd says.
WKNO, Memphis’ PBS member television station since 1956, also lost its CPB grant, totaling 21 percent of its budget. “It was promised two years ago that we would get it. Then this was clawed back, and we’re already in this year,” says Sally Stover, corporate support manager.
Yet Stover adds, “We’re on the lucky side. Twenty-one percent is a substantial part of the budget, but it’s not going to stop us. … There are some smaller rural stations out there that lost maybe 50 or more percent of their budget, and those are the stations that are having some real issues, and they could go away. We’re now trying to reassess and see how we can continue doing what we plan to do and to provide the services, the programs, everything to the community because our community here is wonderful. Community support has always been a large part of our funding.”
Likewise, ARTSmemphis relies on community funding for most of its budget; about 20 percent is from government sources. This most recent fiscal year the nonprofit received a $50,000 Tennessee Arts Commission grant through the NEA to distribute to arts organizations in Memphis. That grant has not been terminated.
Even so, says Elizabeth Rouse, president and CEO of ARTSmemphis, “If the NEA budget is eliminated or changed as of the new federal fiscal year, it could impact ARTSmemphis, and it also could impact a lot of local arts organizations, and that’s why ARTSmemphis is working really hard to secure more dollars from private sources, so that we can grant out more to arts organizations and artists, some of whom have or potentially could experience greater impacts because of government cuts.”
“There’s so many unknowns, and that’s very hard for arts organizations to plan,” Rouse adds. “And the unknowns are about funding that, ultimately, helps create jobs. It’s about funding that helps strengthen communities. It’s about funding that helps kids have access to free and accessible arts programming every day after school. It’s about access for seniors to opportunities in the arts that allow them to have social connections. It’s so much more than just a grant being cut.”
But there’s been a silver lining for many of these organizations. Within two weeks after losing funding, WYXR raised around $25,000. People stepped up for Collage Dance, too. “It reminded me of the power of community,” Harper says. “It reminded me of the beautiful community that we have, and the many people who believe in the work that we do.”
So write and call your elected officials, Rouse encourages, and support the arts — whether that’s by purchasing a painting, attending a play, or just popping by a gallery opening.