The Trump Administration has started canceling federal grants that fund arts and culture programs across the country, including here in Juneau.
The cuts involve millions of dollars in grant funding doled out through the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The president has also proposed eliminating the agencies altogether in his 2026 Discretionary Budget Request.
Among those affected locally are Perseverance Theater, Juneau Jazz and Classics, Sealaska Heritage Institute and the proposed Capital Civic Center in downtown Juneau.
Frank Delaney, Perseverance’s managing director, said the theatre was among the hundreds of other art groups across the country that received an email from the NEA on Friday notifying them that their grants had been terminated.
He called the Trump Administration’s actions short-sighted.
“They are misguided in what they think they are achieving,” he said. “I think that if the NEA does go away, America will be much worse off than it was with that program in place.”
Delaney said the email targeted a grant that had already been spent, and it’s unclear if the theatre will have to repay that money. He said the broader implications of the cuts and program terminations will have a chilling effect on the local arts community.
The nonprofit that is backing the proposed Capital Civic Center says the project has also taken a financial blow. The long-proposed convention and arts facility in downtown Juneau is meant to replace the existing Juneau Arts and Culture Center.
Bob Banghart, executive director of the nonprofit, said he received notice that the National Endowment for the Humanities canceled a $750,000 grant for the project a few weeks ago.
He said, despite the news, he remains optimistic.
“With the inexperience and incompetence demonstrated by this administration, we’re kind of hoping that things will flip again, because they flipped everybody else around,” he said.
The center is estimated to cost up to $60 million. Banghart said the grant cancellation won’t stop the project from moving forward, but they’ll still have to find that money somewhere else.
Sealaska Heritage Institute also confirmed the cancellation of grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. A representative for the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, Phil Huebschen, said they don’t yet know what losses the nonprofit could face from the grant cancellations.
Huebschen announced their resignation Monday.
This post has been updated.
