21-07-2025
How Trump's arts funding cuts are impacting Pennsylvania
More than 90% of Pennsylvania's art and cultural institutions expect to be impacted by the Trump administration's cuts to arts funding, per a new PA Humanities' CultureCheck report.
Why it matters: It's another hit to the performing arts sector — which is recovering from the pandemic and trying to lure audiences back in.
The big picture: Of the more than 400 organizations surveyed, 62% said the funding cuts could force them to postpone or cancel programming, per the report.
About half of those organizations said their attendance levels hadn't returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Zoom in: Many Philly organizations have scrambled to fill budget holes after learning their funding was rescinded from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which advocates warn could face more cuts.
Philly-based PA Humanities, which supports arts, culture and civic engagement, had its operating grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) terminated this year — a move that cut off 60% of the org's annual budget, Axios Pittsburgh's Chrissy Suttles reports.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has said the funding cuts are part of a broader effort to reduce what it considers wasteful government spending.
By the numbers: Pennsylvania has received more than $123 million in federal arts funding since 2020 — critical dollars since the state's per-capita spending (91 cents) is significantly less than neighboring states like New Jersey ($4.45), New York ($4.45) and Maryland ($5.63).
Between the lines: The organizations in Pennsylvania's arts and culture sector aren't just sources of entertainment.
Last year, 43% of organizations surveyed said they offered some type of mental-health-related programming, up from 29% in 2023.
What they're saying: The cuts could "erase years of hard-won progress," Patricia Wilson Aden, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, tells Axios.
