Arts Leaders Speak Out About Trump's Plans to Eliminate National Endowment For The Arts

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier today, according to The Hill, members of Donald Trump's transition team have been meeting ahead of tomorrow's inauguration to outline plans for the "Heritage blueprint" to reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

Along with significant cuts and program eliminations to the departments of Commerce and Energy, Transportation, Justice and State, the administration plans to privatize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities entirely.

Now leaders in the Arts are speaking up about the news. Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert Lynch told the Washington Post: "These are old ideas, some more than a decade old," said Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert Lynch. "We take it seriously, but there's a budget process and a lot of points of intersection."

U.S. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (co-chair of the congressional Arts Caucus) told the WP: "Every dollar the NEA spends we get back $9 or $10 to the Treasury. It's penny wise and pound foolish."

According to the official web site of The National Endowment for the Arts, the independent federal agency funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.