NEA Cuts Funding to Non-Profit Cultural Arts Organizations in New Mexico, Could Negatively Impact Local Arts Community

On the afternoon of May 2, New Mexico nonprofits and those across the nation,  received emails from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) informing them that their grants were being terminated, effective May 31, 2025. Some emails also indicated that tentative funding recommendations had been withdrawn. The NEA did not publicly comment on the reasons for the terminations.

An organization that provides small grants to uplift and explain New Mexico culture and history will have to close its doors, following deep cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities and local humanities councils across the country.

The New Mexico Humanities Council has been around since 1972 and has provided schools, tribes, colleges, cultural centers, libraries and others grants to engage “New Mexicans with history, culture and humanities topics.”

Recent events that credit the council include a Taos exhibition honoring Hispanic stories of northern New Mexico; a youth history competition; and virtual learning experiences at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces.

The termination emails received by grantees list the updated priorities of the NEA as “projects that elevate the Nation’s HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.”

While some of these are familiar to arts nonprofits who have previously applied for NEA grants, projects intended to “foster AI competency” and “make America healthy again” stood out as new additions.

President Trump has released a 2026 budget proposal which includes, among many deep cuts to federal spending, the wholesale elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as several other federal and regional cultural agencies. The arts community reports this as a war on the cultural arts. 

Locally this puts arts organizations such as the Flickinger Center for the Performing Arts and Otero Arts as two small organizations at risk to a negative impact to their budget. 

For Otero Arts programs such as the Student Showcase and Veterans Showcase Exhibition are partially sponsored by National Endowment of the Arts funding.

According to New Mexico Arts, "the Flickinger Center for Performing Arts in Alamogordo, NM has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Specifically, they received grant for programs in their Premier Series, which is described as culturally diverse and includes touring groups offering theater performances and school outreach"

Thus cuts or ending the NEA could negatively impact opportunities for veterans and school students to showcase and participate in the arts. It could eliminate the opportunities for Alamogordo Public High School students to attend a variety of free student performances of premier series shows. The very 

 The grant cancellations are particularly dire for smaller arts organizations in small and economically challenged communities and cities in which arts organizations operate with smaller budgets, for which an NEA grant can constitute substantial assistance to keep the arts alive. 

More News from Alamogordo

• Summer Travel Increases Measles Risk in New Mexico and Texas Summer Travel Increases Measles Risk in New Mexico and Texas
• Officer Involved Shooting Being Investigated in Hobbs Officer Involved Shooting Being Investigated in Hobbs