PEEKSKILL – The National Endowment for the Arts has withdrawn a financial grant that would have helped support two cultural performances at the Paramount Theater in Peekskill later this year.
Abigail Adams, executive director of Paramount Hudson Valley Arts said the funding had been earmarked for performances of Cirque Zuma Zuma, which celebrates the traditional music, dance, and circus arts of Africa in February during Black History Month, and an Argentine tango performance next fall during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Adams said the notification, sent via email, stated that the federal arts agency had updated its priorities to focus on projects “prioritized by the President,” and therefore it was terminating awards that fall outside the Administration’s agenda.
“The letter received stated that the National Endowment for the Arts new funding priorities includes ‘fostering AI competency, assisting with disaster recovery, and making America healthy again.’ These may be worthy goals, but this major priority shift comes at the expense of grassroots arts organizations like the Paramount Theater Hudson Valley Arts,” Adams said.
She said her organization was “not alone. Dozens of arts nonprofits large and small all across the country just received similar emails terminating their NEA grants – part of a wave of budget cuts and a movement to eliminate the NEA entirely. The national press reports that NEA staff is resigning and the agency is now in turmoil. Major advocacy groups like Americans for the Arts are urging every impacted organization to appeal.”
The Peekskill-based group is submitting an appeal but as Adams noted, “Appeals take time, and there is no guarantee that we will ever get the grant we were awarded months ago and were counting on this year which is why we are turning to our community. If the federal government won’t fund inclusive arts programming that celebrates all of us, then it’s up to all of us – patrons and neighbors, business and civic leaders – to do whatever we can to make sure this kind of community-focused programming can survive at the Paramount.”
Source: Mid Hudson News
