In a move reflecting the current agenda of the White House, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has alerted arts applicants that Presidential Executive Order No. 14173, "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity," signed on January 21, 2025, has mandated a change in the contract language that arts organizations must sign when applying for funding.

New components at the end of the Legal Requirements and Assurance of Compliance page note that arts applicants must now agree to "not operate any programs promoting 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) that violate any applicable Federal antidiscrimination laws" and "that federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology, pursuant to Executive Order No. 14168, 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.'"

Imposing such requirements might cause local art organizations to choose to forgo any NEA funding. Suzanne M. Cohen, artistic director of Mirror Stage Company, told the SGN that it currently does not receive NEA funding but that prior to the November election, it was in a strong position to qualify.

"We submitted Part 1 of the application for NEA funding in early February 2025, and then didn't bother completing when they changed the guidelines midstream," Cohen said. "Diversity, equity and inclusion work is our primary mission, so of course we aren't going to sign anything vowing not to do any."

Theatre Communications Group, along with the ACLU and others, has filed suit against these requirements. So far, those efforts have put a pause on the "gender ideology" portion in court but not the DEI language. Nationally, arts organizations are watching and waiting to see if they ultimately prevail.

Local companies respond

Federal grant money through the NEA has been challenging to obtain, even before this contract change. Joshua Gailey, communications and public engagement manager at Seattle Opera, told the SGN that it hasn't received a sizeable NEA grant since the '90s.

"We applied for a NEA grant for The Magic Flute and received $30K last year. [But] each of our productions costs in the $1-2 million range. Because our federal grants are so small, we don't depend on that."

The Opera decided to submit an application this year for its 2026 production of Carmen, and it will carry this production forward whether or not it receives an NEA grant.

"We're navigating as best we can," Gailey said. "It's unclear what the status is. If [those requirements] remain, our strategy is to choose to apply for projects to be in adherence with whatever the NEA is willing to grant funding for, while still continuing to do the work that Seattle Opera has made an institutional priority."

The Seattle Rep has received 10 NEA grants in the last decade, ranging from $25,000 to $35,000, for specific productions, such as Quixote Nuevo, Lydia and the Troll, and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

"Like many of our peers, we are waiting on the courts to understand the full legal implications, but in the meantime, we don't plan to stop applying for NEA funding," Managing Director Jeffrey Herrman told the SGN. "We stand by the artistic quality and merit of our work, and believe that any one of our projects would present a worthwhile investment in arts and culture for American taxpayers."

The NEA has regularly funded various projects at The 5th Avenue Theatre since 2006, with support ranging from $15,000 to $60,000.

"The NEA has also made [other kinds of] Washington state grants possible," Bill Berry, executive director, told the SGN. "While usually less than $10,000, those grants helped make it possible for The 5th to offer free and low-cost performances and programs. The 5th Avenue Theatre is not an applicant for the coming cycle."

The pattern in Seattle's arts community appears now to be either waiting on what the courts decide or choosing not to engage with the funding requirements.

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