If you make your living in the arts — if you act, write, direct, produce, pitch, cut, compose or greenlight stories, then what’s happening to the National Endowment for the Arts isn’t just political noise. It’s personal.
The NEA isn’t some abstract agency. It’s the only federal institution that exists to support artistic expression in America. Since 1965, it has seeded the creative ecosystem that feeds our industry. The NEA is funding independent film labs, rural arts programs, youth theaters, music therapy for veterans and the very first touchpoint of art for more than 41 million Americans. That ecosystem is now on life support.
In the early months of President Trump’s second term, his administration has launched a targeted assault on the NEA. Leadership has been gutted. Programs like Challenge America, which brought the arts to underserved communities, have been canceled. New guidelines are being drafted that would require future grant recipients to reflect a narrow, politicized definition of “patriotic” art. The Trump administration has proposed eliminating the NEA entirely in 2026 after significant cuts to 2025 grants.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t belt-tightening. It’s censorship by bureaucracy.
Every dollar the NEA awards generates nine more from private and local partners. That’s a $207 million federal investment that unlocks nearly $2 billion in nationwide arts funding. Pull that one thread, and the whole creative safety net unravels. That money fuels young artists, sustains small theaters and dance companies, and funds the kind of early exposure to the arts that makes a future screenwriter, set designer, or showrunner possible.
This is not about charity. This is about infrastructure. The arts contribute $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy and support 5.4 million jobs. That includes yours.
If you’ve ever told your origin story and it starts with a school play, a local arts program, or a community grant, that’s the NEA. If you’ve ever worked with talent who came from places far outside the Hollywood bubble, that’s the NEA. If you care about the next generation of storytellers, the ones who haven’t walked onto a studio lot yet but are waiting for someone to hand them a mic, that’s the NEA.
And if this administration succeeds, we lose that pipeline.
Even more dangerous than the funding cuts are the new ideological strings that are being attached. Under this White House’s plan, artists must shape their work to fit a prescribed political narrative or risk being shut out. That’s not just offensive — that’s un-American. We’ve seen this tactic before during the McCarthy era, when creative professionals were blacklisted, careers destroyed and entire lives upended simply for refusing to conform. The resulting cuts silenced voices for a generation. We clawed our way back. We can’t afford to start over.
This is the new censorship: not through bans or blacklists, but by defunding the stage entirely.
If you’re in the entertainment industry, you know that stories shape culture. You also know that access to the tools and platforms to tell those stories is not evenly distributed. The NEA helps level that playing field. It ensures that talent, not privilege, determines who gets seen and heard.
Without it, the only voices that get amplified are the ones that already had the mic.
This is not about politics. It’s about principle.
The Creative Coalition was founded to defend the right of every American to access and create art. Our members are actors, writers, producers, directors and more. They are using their platforms to fight for every artist, whether they’re center stage or behind the scenes, who deserves the right to create without fear or filter.
Defunding the NEA doesn’t make America stronger. It makes it smaller. Less vibrant. Less inclusive. Less human.
So to every actor, writer, producer, director, executive and showrunner: this is your fight, too.
The stakes are not abstract. They’re on your screen. In your writers’ room. On your call sheet. In your paycheck.
Call your senators and representatives at 202-224-3121. Demand protection for the NEA. Use your platform. Lend your voice.
Before they take the stage away.
Robin Bronk is the CEO of the Creative Coalition, a nonprofit organization of the arts and entertainment communities dedicated to advancing the arts as a fundamental pillar of American society. For more information, visit www.TheCreativeCoalition.org
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