New England arts orgs lost over $13M in funding in 2025

State of play: The survey, conducted in February, found that three dozen organizations lost $11.4 million in federal funding after it was previously awarded.

• The organizations reported a combined $869,730 in state funding losses.
• They also saw $669,000 less in foundation-based donations and $553,329 less from individual donations.

Context: The latest survey suggests the funding losses are worse than initially estimated.

• A July 2025 survey of 89 organizations reported losing $4.2 million in funding.
• 73% of those funds were from cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts, which the Trump administration has proposed eliminating as recently as the fiscal 2027 budget cycle.

What they're saying: "The loss of these investments will result in real economic hurt for our communities," said Emily Ruddock, MASSCreative's executive director.

By the numbers: Connecticut-based organizations reported the steepest losses with over $5.2 million in various forms of funding.

• Vermont reported nearly $3 million in lost funding, followed by Maine ($2.27 million), New Hampshire ($936,000) and Massachusetts (nearly $916,000).
• Massachusetts reported 171 job losses, the highest number of any New England state.

Some grants still exist, but new criteria have disqualified at least 45 New England organizations, causing them to miss out on $7.14 million in federal funding.

• More are relying on state or local funding sources to fill the gap.