05/09/2025
Those that "have" really need to step up NOW.
After the administration of US President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) cancelled around $65m in grants made by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) last month, the Mellon Foundation has stepped in to provide $15m in emergency funding for humanities councils in all 50 states and six US territories.
The foundation’s announcement on Tuesday (29 April) came four weeks after NEH grantees were first informed that their grants had been cancelled so funds could be rerouted “in a new direction in furtherance of the president’s agenda”. It subsequently emerged that one agenda item receiving priority is a Trump pet project to build a patriotic sculpture park with monuments to 250 famous people, the so-called “National Garden of American Heroes”.
“At stake are both the operational integrity of organisations like museums, libraries, historical societies in every single state, as well as the mechanisms to participate in the cultural dynamism and exchange that is a fundamental part of American civic life,” Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the Mellon Foundation, said in a statement. “While Mellon’s grantmaking will not cover the entirety of these cuts, we stand side by side with the 56 humanities councils across the United States and remain deeply committed to the work they lead on behalf of us all.”
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/01/mellon-foundation-gives-millions-to-us-humanities-organisations
