Arvada Center Statement on NEA Grant Terminations

Late last Friday night, the National Endowment for the Arts canceled most in-progress and awarded grants for arts and theatre organizations nationwide. Hundreds of organizations and artists suddenly lost funding due to alleged non-compliance with newly issued federal guidelines on what types of art qualify for government support. 

The Arvada Center is not currently receiving NEA funding or affected by these sudden terminations. But we see and hear the stories of our friends, community partners, and collaborators as their funding and programs are thrown into turmoil, and we all look toward an uncertain future. Following other previously announced budget cuts and executive orders impacting arts and cultural institutions, museums, and libraries, these changes will have wide-reaching effects across the country. 

The arts are a public good—essential to a healthy democracy, economic growth, free expression, educational access, community connection, mental well-being, and more. They help us understand each other, heal, dream, and connect. When we strip away federal support for the arts, we do more than cut funding—we deny the idea that creativity matters, that stories matter, that humanity matters. We risk losing the very things that bring light, beauty, and meaning to our lives.

Your support of the arts - in Colorado and beyond - is more important than ever: 

• Contact your local, state, and federal representatives to encourage them to stand with the arts. Americans For The Arts has resources on how to do so.

• Donate to theatre organizations, including but certainly not limited to the Arvada Center.

• If you are an arts organization or collective that has been affected by this series of NEA Grant Terminations, consider filling out this NEA Termination Grant Tracker created by Annie Dorsen for collective record-keeping.

• Last but not least: Show up for the arts! See live theatre, buy concert tickets from an independent venue, purchase artwork from a Colorado artist, attend an exhibition, or visit a museum with your children.  

• Supporting the arts here in Colorado is an impactful way to show how much arts and culture matters in your community.

If you have any questions, please contact our Box Office - info@arvadacenter.org.