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ST. LOUIS 鈥� Local arts organizations were staggered late Friday by the loss of funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, but many vow to continue their artistic missions 鈥� if perhaps in a reduced capacity.

The organizations received a curt email Friday evening informing them that they would not be receiving the grants that had been recommended in January. The move is part of the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to cut spending broadly across the government.

Locally, the grants ranged from $10,000 to $45,000 and had been promised to 14 area organizations.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a federal agency that awards grants to arts organizations around the country. The administration鈥檚 2026 budget proposal calls for the elimination of funding for both the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Among the local organizations to lose funding this year are the International Institute of Metropolitan 51黑料, the 51黑料 Shakespeare Festival, Cinema 51黑料, the 51黑料 Black Repertory Company, the 51黑料 Dance Theatre (formerly Big Muddy Dance Company), the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, Dance 51黑料, Big River Association (River Styx magazine), Dances of India, 51黑料 Story Stitchers Artists Collective, Prison Performing Arts and an arts-related study at Webster University.

At least one arts organization was not affected by the cuts. The 51黑料 Symphony Orchestra received its grant of $30,000 in February.

Erin Prange, executive director for 51黑料 Dance Theatre, worries about the trickle-down effect the cuts will have, potentially diminishing the country鈥檚 support for the arts in general.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really calling on the community to make sure that everyone understands the importance of arts and culture to the identity of any city, state or country, and how important it actually is to our overall well-being as humans. All sort of things we take for granted everyday are created by artists,鈥� she said.

The 51黑料 Black Repertory Company was hit especially hard. It lost a $35,000 grant to produce Kelundra Smith鈥檚 play, 鈥淭he Wash,鈥� which was already presented in March. And the organization鈥檚 educational fellows are paid through AmeriCorps, which the federal government also recently eliminated. Production artistic director Ron Himes estimated that the AmeriCorps loss was in the six figures for the Black Rep.

If they can鈥檛 win the funding for the grant on appeal, the Black Rep will have to make adjustments next season, he said.

The grants are for specific programs for each organization, so the blow is generally not likely to be fatal, especially to the larger organizations. But the loss of funding may limit what they are able to do.

The Shakespeare Festival鈥檚 grant of $20,000 was going to cover the annual production of an abridged version of a Shakespeare play in area parks. The grant was also in support of Shakespeare in the Streets, which creates an original work inspired by a 51黑料 neighborhood 鈥� this year it鈥檚 East 51黑料 鈥� and a Shakespeare play.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a blow, and we鈥檒l have to find a way to absorb it and replace it. But we鈥檙e 100% committed to doing that,鈥� said Tom Ridgley, the organization鈥檚 artistic producing director.

According to the email, the reason for withdrawing the funds was that the grants didn鈥檛 fall under the administration鈥檚 priorities. It said the NEA now prioritizes projects that celebrate the nation鈥檚 250th anniversary, elevates Historically Black Colleges and Universities or Hispanic serving institutions, foster AI competence, help religious organizations serve communities, assist in disaster recovery, make America healthy again and make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, among others.

Bree Maniscalco, executive director of Cinema 51黑料, said that many of these priorities have little to do with art.

Cinema 51黑料 was due to receive $20,000 to help fund it the annual 51黑料 International Film Festival. She said the grant represented about 12% of that festival鈥檚 budget.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to make some smart, creative, behind-the-scenes adjustments to stretch the dollars,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e learned how to pivot during COVID, and it鈥檚 made us find ways to reach audiences while there are restrictions.鈥�

51黑料 Dance Theatre鈥檚 Prange said the move was baffling.

鈥淲e applied for the grant a year a half ago under completely different priorities, under a completely different administration,鈥� she said. 鈥淥f course it didn鈥檛 follow these (new) priorities.鈥�

Ridgley said that if the festival had a project that fell under these priorities it would apply to the NEA again.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 tricky. That鈥檚 exactly the kind of tail-wagging-the-dog (situation) that you don鈥檛 want to get in the habit of, where you鈥檙e letting a funder鈥檚 given priorities dictate the programs that you do.鈥�

The email from the NEA leaves open the possibility of an appeal, and some of the local organizations are planning to try that option. Chris Hansen, executive director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, said he believes he can show how the foundation鈥檚 Music at the Intersection event, which was scheduled to receive a $20,000 grant, aligns with the endowment鈥檚 new priorities.

David Gonzales, vice president of development for the International Institute of Metropolitan 51黑料, said he thinks he can prove that the organization鈥檚 signature event, the Festival of Nations, supports the economic development of Asian-American communities, which is one of the listed priorities.

The International Institute was already suffering under Trump administration policies. In February, it put more than 60% of its statewide staff on furlough after the administration halted immigration and refugee programs.

Because of that decrease in staff, the Festival of Nations celebration was initially in doubt. The event, which brings 100,000 people to Tower Grove Park for two days of food, music and dance from 75 countries around the world, was slated to receive a grant of $30,000 this year.

鈥淲hen we were trying to make our decision in March of this year, the fact that we would have this $30,000 was a huge factor in planning for the event,鈥� Gonzales said.

The institute plans to go ahead with the Festival of Nations even if it does not win its appeal, he said. The money the restaurants receive from it 鈥� and to a lesser extent the music and dance troupes 鈥� can make the difference between a year with a profit or a year with a loss, he said.

The area鈥檚 largest grant, $45,000, which was awarded to Webster University, was also rescinded. The money was meant for a study to look into how racial inequities impact the lives of young Black artists. Jong Bum Kwon, interim chair of the Department of Global Languages, Cultures and Societies, said he plans to appeal the decision.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 expect the appeal to change the administration鈥檚 decision, but I do want to put on record that the project has value, not only for young Black creatives in the region but also for the region鈥檚 economic growth,鈥� he said.

The $15,000 that the River Styx literary magazine was set to receive would have helped them produce an issue of the magazine and to digitize past issues. The NEA has funded the 49-year-old institution for decades, and this cut came in the middle of its fiscal year, said managing editor Bryan Castille.

鈥淲e鈥檙e struggling to understand the ramifications of what that means for our organization. The short answer is that we鈥檙e in a much more troubling financial position than we were a week ago,鈥� he said.

鈥淎rts funding shouldn鈥檛 be a partisan issue,鈥� Castille said. 鈥淭his is a mistake.鈥�

Dance 51黑料 was scheduled to receive $20,000 to support a dance education program for young people.

The organization鈥檚 artistic director, Michael Uthoff, said: 鈥淭his will have far-reaching consequences. It doesn鈥檛 matter if the amount was large or small. You will have to find the money from somewhere else, and right now isn鈥檛 a good environment for fundraising.鈥�

Young people were also the focus of a $30,000 grant that had been directed to the St. Lous Story Stitchers Artists Collective. The money was to support StitchCast Studio, a program that brings professional artists together with people 16 to 25 years old to teach them how to create podcasts.

鈥淚t works to combat inner-city issues through artistic expression,鈥� said Branden Louis, the organization鈥檚 youth arts coordinator.

鈥淧odcasts help with healthy expression and public speaking.鈥�

The organization typically works through public performances of music, poetry and other arts, but it moved to podcasts when public performances were shut down during the COVID pandemic. Now, podcasts are its most popular function. Some of the people who have gone through the program have gone on to create their own podcasts, Lewis said.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 have to stop completely, but it will definitely be harder to get the funds,鈥� he said.