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Home My WebLink About05-09-25 Correspondence - MT Arts Council - ARTeries_ News from the Montana Arts Council for early May 2025From:Montana Arts CouncilTo:Bozeman Public CommentSubject:[EXTERNAL]ARTeries: News from the Montana Arts Council for early May 2025Date:Thursday, May 8, 2025 2:15:49 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ARTeries - The Lifeblood of Arts In Montana White Divider Reggie Wilson Fist and Heel Dance Reggie Wilson’s stunning “Fist and Heel” performance in Helena in the early 2000s: An exercise in risk, a community-building event, and an excellent example of NEA funds benefitting rural America. Built for Risk This is the creative life. Dancers launch themselves into the air; singers reach for the high note; painters dab oil onto a neary finished canvas that they know could make or break their work. We step out onstage risking heart, soul, and budget, not knowing exactly what will happen. Think of it: in the best poems, a stanza begins in one direction and ends up somewhere surprising and unexpected—and we are delighted and enriched. Not every moment of risk delights and enriches, of course. Sometimes it’s just a car crash. This week’s news that the White House has called for elimination of the cultural and humanities organizations in the FY26 budget brings one more difficulty to an already struggling field. And a handful of you, who are direct NEA grantees, just got significant grant funds snatched back. As Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez told Ezra Klein in The New York Times this week: “I would argue the way you put the fire out is by going and building community.” Risk, agility, and community: this is what art and humanities are all about. Innovation, flexibility, and creativity are the world we inhabit. We ourselves are the workbench. If you’re feeling a bit up in the air right now, that’s your own creative excellence rising to this moment. Krys Holmes Executive Director krys.holmes@mt.gov NEA News News at the NEA: Many changes have come to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and it’s important to know what is—and what is not —happening. The NEA has rescinded or terminated direct grants to a handful of Montana arts organizations that were awarded in 2024 and 2025. This means that some of Montana’s pillar arts providers have not only shouldered higher costs for their communities, but now will lose the support that came from this promised partnership. Who is affected? Potentially 14 Montana grantees, all of them conducting richly significant and educational projects across the state. NEA direct grants (darkest dots) are powerful public-private partnerships in bringing affordable, highly-vetted arts experiences into rural places. What is not happening: State arts grants, which are also NEA-supported, have not been cut. This means MAC will continue to support artistic activities across Montana. Glance up at that map again: as long as MAC exists, we will serve all those communities to the best of our ability. Future changes: After a visit from DOGE in recent weeks, the NEA staff is reducing to about 40% of its authorized level. Meanwhile the White House has requested an FY2026 budget that eliminates the NEA entirely, along with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Congress has strongly supported these cultural agencies—despite numerous proposals to eliminate them, from several administrations—because of the importance of arts and culture to all of America. As Mary Anne Carter (Senior Advisor to the NEA) said, “Art is for everyone.” The job ahead is to inform Congressional leaders of the importance of art and humanities in your life and your community. Encourage them to support this critical public/private partnership that makes arts experiences available to every congressional district in the US—most importantly to rural areas. Pam Breaux, the president of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, stated: "This is a crushing loss for many of the NEA's direct grantees; many community- based arts projects will shut down and public access to the arts will shrink. A strong NEA strengthens America. We should be sustaining our federal investment in the arts —not retracting it." If you want to have a voice in how your Congressional delegation votes on the federal budget, go here: Arts Action Center | Arts ActionFund If you have any questions, reach out: Krys.holmes@mt.gov. Good To Know Public funding is all about access: 44% of Montanans are considered rural1. But nationwide, only 6-7% of private foundation funds reach rural areas. Here’s where the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) comes in. The NEA distributes funds to 678 more counties across the U.S. than private foundations do. In contrast, 19% of state agency grants reach into rural areas on average; in Montana, 30% of MAC awards reach outside the 7 bigger communities, and an additional 14% go to statewide organizations that serve almost every town from Alzada to Yaak. Public funding is not about creating art. It’s about ensuring that all Montanans have the opportunity to experience arts and culture in the way that means most to them— even if they live far from well-resourced, urban areas. Next time someone tells you, “I love the arts, but I don’t support public funding of the arts,” ask them: Which small towns don’t deserve to have arts experiences? Random facts: NEA funds (directly, or through state arts agencies like MAC) award funds in all 436 congressional districts. NEA funds reach 678 more counties than private foundations do. This includes all of Montana’s 56 counties. Public funding averages 5-9% of nonprofit arts organization revenues. Arts organizations are highly entrepreneurial in their development of revenue streams. But earned revenue doesn’t cover the whole cost of arts production. The role that public funding plays is to keep experiences affordable to most Americans—rather than forcing ticket prices to cover a greater share, which would make arts experiences less accessible to working citizens, children, and families. Private philanthropy tends to focus on limited missions that focus on specific geographies or art forms. As a result, philanthropic funding tends to be concentrated in urban communities, the two costs, and larger institutions. Nationwide, 32% of state arts agency grants go to high poverty communities. In Montana, that picture looks like this: Map of MAC FY23 Grants and NEA Fy24 Grants by County Poverty Rates 1. Source: US Health & Human Services: Montana - 2024 - III.B. Overview of the State; and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economicsat Montana State University. Part 2: Rural vs. Urban: Differences are Common - AgEconMT Artists Spotlight Eva Murray reciting at state finals in early 2025. Congratulations to Eva Murray for her performance this week at the Poetry Out Loud national finals in Washington, DC., a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation which is a nationwide recitation competition participated in by high school students from every state and US territory. Eva is currently a sophomore at Anaconda Jr/Sr High School. Born and raised in Sitka, Alaska before moving to Montana in 2021, Eva has been writing stories since she was little. She notes that Poetry Out Loud has been a great opportunity to experience other people's stories in poetry. Upon graduation, Eva wishes to enroll at the University of Montana and explore her interests from there, including language arts. Well done, Eva! Resources For Artists Indigenous Canadian artist Norval Morrisseau, who painted “Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds,” (1980), was the victim of one of the biggest art frauds in history. Protect your legacy: A former FBI Art Crime Team member who spent years investigating and recovering stolen artworks and forgeries, has now created the Art Legacy Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the legacy of artists and protecting their works from fraudsters. “The ascent of online commerce, technological advances, and the ever-increasing value of contemporary art, have given rise to a double-edged sword for artists,” says Ronnie Walker, founder of the Institute. He hopes to make his tools free for artists. More information: Mission — Art Legacy Institute Read about Norval Morrisseau's story here: Inside the Biggest Art Fraud in History Native artists in need: The Yeigo Action Grant (https://www.firstpeoplesfund.org/programs/yeigo-action-grant) offers small grants ($100-$1,000) for individual Native artists and culture bearers who are in need of quick financial assistance for an artistic opportunity, emergency situation and/or sudden unanticipated expense related to their art practice or business. This grant’s name incorporates the Diné word yéigo, often used as a phrase of encouragement that can mean “keep going” or “don’t give up.” Good words for us all, whether we qualify for this grant or not. White Divider Heads Up Do you know the artist Teddy Hines? Seven original artworks by Inidgenous artist Teddy Hines of Roosevelt County (1961-2018) were recently discovered in a garage, and our friends at the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association are looking for either a family member or an art museum interested in acquiring these works. Some are framed; some unframed. It seems Hines gave the works to the Malta funeral director as payment for services. Hines is buried on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Interested in finding out more? Or do you have information on Teddy and his work? Email MAGDAdirector3@gmail.com. Image: One of seven Teddy Hines artworks looking for a permanent home. ARTeries is produced by the Montana Arts Council. If this email was forwarded to you and you'd like to subscribe, visit us at https://art.mt.gov/enews This email was sent to comments@bozeman.net using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: MontanaArts Council MAC Logo Teal Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe All | Help | Montana Arts Council | 830 N. 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