How Trump's arts funding cuts are impacting Pennsylvania
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More than 90% of Pennsylvania's art and cultural institutions expect to be impacted by the Trump administration's cuts to arts funding, per a new PA Humanities' CultureCheck report.
Why it matters: It's another hit to the performing arts sector — which is recovering from the pandemic and trying to lure audiences back in.
The big picture: Of the more than 400 organizations surveyed, 62% said the funding cuts could force them to postpone or cancel programming, per the report.
- About half of those organizations said their attendance levels hadn't returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Zoom in: Many Philly organizations have scrambled to fill budget holes after learning their funding was rescinded from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which advocates warn could face more cuts.
- Philly-based PA Humanities, which supports arts, culture and civic engagement, had its operating grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) terminated this year — a move that cut off 60% of the org's annual budget, Axios Pittsburgh's Chrissy Suttles reports.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has said the funding cuts are part of a broader effort to reduce what it considers wasteful government spending.
By the numbers: Pennsylvania has received more than $123 million in federal arts funding since 2020 — critical dollars since the state's per-capita spending (91 cents) is significantly less than neighboring states like New Jersey ($4.45), New York ($4.45) and Maryland ($5.63).
Between the lines: The organizations in Pennsylvania's arts and culture sector aren't just sources of entertainment.
- Last year, 43% of organizations surveyed said they offered some type of mental-health-related programming, up from 29% in 2023.
What they're saying: The cuts could "erase years of hard-won progress," Patricia Wilson Aden, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, tells Axios.
- "Arts and culture are not luxuries — they are lifelines."