Capitol at Washington. c 1850, Nathaniel Currier This object’s media is free and in the public domain by the Courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Washington
News from Civsy, based on human monitoring, generative AI tools and retrieval-augumented real time data searchTrump's first year back in the White House has produced both dramatic institutional takeovers and sustained pressure that cumulatively narrows room for independent cultural work. Programming choices that previously turned mainly on artistic judgment, finances, and audiences now sit within a more overtly politicised environment, where board appointments, budget decisions, and even the language of project descriptions are closely tied to ideological signals from Washington. Governance changes, mass grant terminations, international withdrawals, and reputational campaigns have made it harder for public cultural institutions to maintain arm's‑length autonomy from the executive.
Governance Capture
For observers outside the United States, the question is not only how far Trump's capture will go at home, but how quickly similar methods will be copied elsewhere, by governments that have watched Washington test the limits of cultural control and found the results instructive.
The clearest template sits on the banks of the Potomac. In May 2025, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts revised its bylaws so that only trustees appointed by the president could vote or even count towards a quorum, freezing out the 23 ex officio members designated by Congress, including the Librarian of Congress and the mayor of Washington, DC. Those changes also clarified that general trustees "serve at the pleasure of the President" and opened the way for the president himself to act as chief executive officer, with compensation to match.
By December, that new internal architecture produced its first major visible outcome: a board made up of Trump appointees endorsed adding his name to the institution, rebranding it as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage was installed on the building's exterior December 19, 2025, one day after the board vote.
The personnel story has followed the same pattern. After returning to office in January 2025, Trump dismissed Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter and board chair David Rubenstein, appointed Richard Grenell as interim executive director in February, and installed allies including Usha Vance (wife of Vice President JD Vance), Susie Wiles, and Laura Ingraham as trustees. Similar pressures have been reported inside Smithsonian units. Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," accusing the Smithsonian of promoting "divisive, race-centered ideology" and directing Vice President Vance to remove "improper ideology" from its properties. Curators and educators describe a more cautious internal atmosphere, where proposals that address police brutality, mass incarceration, or queer history are more likely to stall or be diluted before they reach the programme calendar. In May 2025, Trump announced the dismissal of Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, calling her "a partisan person and a supporter of D.E.I.".
Legal advocates have questioned whether the Kennedy Center name change violates the 1964 federal law (Public Law 88-260) that created the center as a memorial specifically to John F. Kennedy. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit in December 2025 arguing that the 1964 statute explicitly designates the center's name and forbids the board from adding other memorials without Congressional action. As of January 2026, the lawsuit remains pending with no hearing scheduled, though Democratic lawmakers have also introduced legislation that would ban renaming federal buildings after sitting presidents and prohibit use of federal funds for such purposes.
Fiscal Strangulation and Conditionality
Budget politics have supplied the second main lever. On May 2, 2025, the White House released its proposal for the 2026 federal budget, calling explicitly for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Unlike similar proposals during Trump's first term, this was immediately backed by administrative action. That same evening, the NEA began sending out termination notices, rescinding pending offers and cutting off existing awards as of May 31, 2025, with only seven days to appeal.
Organizations across the country reported that approved grants were cancelled mid‑cycle, affecting work that spanned performing, visual, literary, folk arts, and education. An informal tracking effort documented nearly 560 terminated grants totaling more than $27 million. The NEA sent emails stating that projects no longer aligned with administration priorities: "The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities". Some organizations whose period of performance had ended received expedited close-out notices, while others whose grants extended beyond May 31 were told they could request only partial funding.
In parallel, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee advanced cuts in July 2025 that would have brought NEA and NEH funding for FY2026 down to around $135 million each, roughly a 35 percent reduction from the previous year's $207 million. However, as of January 2026, Congress maintained NEA and NEH funding at $207 million in final appropriations legislation, rejecting the proposed cuts despite continued administration pressure for elimination.
The effect extends beyond federal dollars. The NEA allocates approximately 40 percent of its annual program funding to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations through Partnership Agreement grants. The threatened elimination of the NEA has created uncertainty in state budgets that depend on this federal match. In July 2025, New Hampshire's State Council on the Arts saw its operating budget slashed to $150,000, resulting in six of seven staff being laid off. Some state legislatures have warned they might exit arts funding altogether if the federal contribution vanishes. Institutions quickly learn which types of projects still move smoothly through federal review: heritage, patriotic anniversaries, and "American heroes" themes that sit comfortably within the administration's preferred story of the nation.
Narrative Policing and History Wars
The fight over money has been accompanied by a campaign over which histories and identities can be visible in public institutions. Trump's allies have pushed the Smithsonian and its flagship museums to "restore truth" in their treatment of slavery, racism, and empire. That pressure has landed most visibly on the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, both of which have faced scrutiny for exhibitions that connect historical violence to contemporary inequalities.
The vocabulary of "woke" has become the main political tool in this arena. Trump posted on Truth Social that drag shows at the Kennedy Center were "specifically targeting our youth—THIS WILL STOP," and his administration moved to ban drag performances and cancel LGBTQ+ programming including a collaboration with the Gay Men's Chorus and the children's musical "Finn". Conservative media have used the Kennedy Center's rebranding and programming controversies to argue that elite institutions must be brought into line with "real" national values. Even where explicit cancellations are rare, constant public accusations make it riskier for staff to defend contested work, and easier for boards to back away from anything that might invite presidential attention.
Legal and Policy Chill in Education
Education policy in Trump's second term has reinforced this climate. Project 2025, the extensive policy blueprint prepared by allied conservative organizations including the Heritage Foundation, devotes entire sections to "excising" critical race theory and gender ideology from curricula in every public school. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts wrote that these "noxious tenets" should be eliminated from classrooms and libraries. While Trump has publicly distanced himself from Project 2025, his executive orders and campaign pledges closely mirror its language and policy prescriptions, particularly regarding education censorship and funding cuts.
Trump issued Executive Order "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling" on January 28, 2025, directing federal agencies to eliminate funding for programs promoting "gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology". His campaign platform pledged to cut funding to any school or program that "pushes Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content". In February 2025, the Department of Education announced it had cut over $600 million in "divisive teacher training grants". The National Education Association and civil liberties groups warn that these proposals, combined with state‑level laws on "divisive concepts," create strong incentives for districts to pre‑emptively remove plays, novels, and artworks likely to draw complaints.
For the arts, the consequences show up in school theatre seasons that drop contemporary work on race or sexuality, libraries that quietly stop acquiring certain graphic novels or photography books, and youth festivals that avoid anything that could be read as political. Artists working with schools report more contracts with clauses that bar explicit reference to racism or LGBTQ+ identities, especially in conservative districts. The cumulative effect is a narrower pool of young artists and audiences accustomed to encountering difficult subjects in public settings.
Symbolic Capture and Reputational Pressure
If budgets and bylaws do the structural work, symbols and reputations do the daily disciplining. The move to attach Trump's name to the Kennedy Center is not just a matter of signage; it repositions one of the country's highest‑profile cultural venues as a space that honours the sitting president alongside a murdered predecessor associated with liberal modernization. As noted above, legal challenges contend that current trustees lack authority to add another dedication under the 1964 statute.
Artists and institutions have responded unevenly. Multiple high-profile performers and organizations have cancelled appearances at the Trump-branded Kennedy Center, including the musical "Hamilton," banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, actress Issa Rae, and the Chuck Redd Trio. The Washington National Opera severed ties with the Kennedy Center in January 2026, ending an association dating to the center's opening in 1971. These decisions quickly become fodder for partisan narratives: Richard Grenell, Trump's appointee as Kennedy Center president, described artists who cancelled as exhibiting "disgusting behavior," while progressive audiences scrutinise who is seen to collaborate with an administration that targets marginalised communities. In practical terms, the constant reputational crossfire makes it harder for institutions to maintain broad coalitions of artists and donors around complex work.
International Disengagement and Isolation
Trump's second term has also seen a systematic retreat from international cultural and heritage forums. On January 7, 2026, the White House issued a presidential memorandum ordering the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations and treaties that it described as contrary to national interests. The list included the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), among 31 UN organizations and 35 non-UN bodies. The United States had announced its withdrawal from UNESCO separately in July 2025, effective December 31, 2026.
Europa Nostra and other European heritage networks expressed "deep regret" at the decision. ICCROM stated that the United States had been a "critical" financial and technical partner since joining in 1971, and warned that the withdrawal would have "direct impact on ICCROM's core capacities" to support global cooperation on conservation, training, and emergency response. The State Department defended the move by portraying many multilateral organizations as "wasteful," "ineffective," or captured by actors with agendas "contrary to our own," language that echoes the administration's domestic rhetoric about arts institutions. For US cultural agencies and museums, leaving these forums means fewer international peer benchmarks on restitution, diversity, or memory politics, and fewer external reference points when resisting domestic pressure.
Counter‑Currents and Resilience
The same year has also produced new forms of resistance. In August 2025, more than 150 arts and cultural organizations, together with over 300 artists and cultural workers, issued a nationwide statement titled "Cultural Freedom Demands Collective Courage." Coordinated by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Vera List Center, the statement pledged to "resist external pressures" and to support institutions facing political interference, warning that if organizations surrendered programmatic autonomy they risked becoming instruments of propaganda. Signatories ranged from New York and California institutions to organizations in Republican‑controlled states such as Texas and Alabama.
Later that year, artistic resistance spilled into the streets. The "Fall of Freedom" movement staged over 600 events nationwide on November 21–22, 2025, across more than 40 states in one of the largest coordinated acts of artistic resistance in modern U.S. history. Organizers included Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, visual artist Dread Scott, curator Accra Shepp, artist Miguel Luciano, and painter Robert Longo, alongside cultural institutions such as the Brooklyn Public Library, Dallas Contemporary, and the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Performances, installations, readings, and community gatherings transformed theaters, museums, and public spaces into sites of civic imagination, directly confronting what participants described as escalating authoritarianism and systematic suppression of dissent. The movement's launch event at National Sawdust featured Tony Award winners Tonya Pinkins and Daniel J. Watts, while a benefit concert at Pioneer Works headlined by Sheryl Crow raised funds for the ACLU's civil rights initiatives.
At the level of public finance, some state and municipal governments have tried to buffer the federal shock. Analysis by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies shows that while total state appropriations for arts agencies reached $649.2 million for FY2026, a 7.4 percent decrease from FY2025, 29 states still managed to increase allocations to their arts agencies, often framing this as a response to federal retreat. Illinois maintained $24.4 million in funding for the Illinois Arts Council in FY2026 despite a difficult budget year with cuts across many programs, following a historic increase the previous year. Governor J.B. Pritzker announced $16.2 million in grants to 1,123 artists, arts organizations, and communities for the first quarter of FY2026 alone. These examples show how decentralised support can, at least temporarily, offset national hostility.
These counter‑currents are not enough to cancel out the administration's structural gains. Governance changes at flagship institutions remain in force, federal grantmaking has been sharply politicized even as Congress maintained funding levels, and the signal sent by mass withdrawal from international bodies is unlikely to be reversed quickly. But they sketch out the beginnings of a different map: alliances that cross state lines, city‑level funds that keep contested work alive, memoranda of understanding between museums and independent spaces to share risk.
Trump's systematic assault on cultural freedom in his second term.
✓ Kennedy Center governance restructured to lock out Congress
✓ 560+ NEA grants terminated mid-cycle ($27M+)
✓ Smithsonian curators sidelined for race-focused exhibitions
✓ 66 international cultural bodies defunded
✓ 600+ cities mobilized in Fall of Freedom resistance
The pattern: Steady institutional pressure, budget cuts, board purges, and reputational campaigns that make artistic independence harder to defend.
Yet 29 states increased arts funding. The Chuck Redd Trio, Washington National Opera, and 150+ organizations are resisting. Decentralized support can offset national hostility—at least temporarily.
For a full fact-checked breakdown with sources and legal context, read our latest investigation into cultural control mechanisms.
🔗 Link
#ArtsCensorship #CulturalFreedom #Arts #Democracy #Trump #CensorsAreCool #ArtisticFreedom #HumanRights #MuseumPolitics #FederalFunding #ResistanceMoments #CulturalResistance #FallOfFreedom
References:
Primary News Sources
Kennedy Center Governance & Renaming
Washington Post - "Kennedy Center changed board rules months before vote..."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/12/31/kennedy-center-board-trustees-bylaws/Rolling Stone - "Kennedy Center Altered Rules So Only Trump-Appointed..."
https://au.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/kennedy-center-altered-rules-donald-trump-name-change-89354/Broadway World - "Kennedy Center Amended Bylaws to Limit Votes to Trump-Appointed Board Members"
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Kennedy-Center-Amended-Bylaws-to-Limit-Votes-to-Trump-Appointed-Board-Members-20251231NPR - "President Trump adds his own name to the Kennedy Center"
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/18/nx-s1-5648519/kennedy-center-name-change-trumpAl Jazeera - "Trump's name added to Kennedy Center exterior, one day after vote to rename"
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/20/trumps-name-added-to-kennedy-center-exterior-one-day-after-vote-to-renamePBS NewsHour - "PHOTOS: Kennedy Center adds Trump's name to memorial..."
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/photos-kennedy-center-adds-trumps-name-to-memorial-congress-created-for-jfkNew York Times - "As Kennedy Center Rebrands It's Mired in Black Tape"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/arts/as-kennedy-center-rebrands-its-mired-in-black-tape.htmlCNN - "More artists pull out of Kennedy Center shows following..."
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/30/politics/kennedy-center-cancelations-trump-nameBBC - "Artists cancel Kennedy Center shows after Trump name..."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r4wwplnd1oUSA Today - "Democrats push to get Trump's name off Kennedy Center"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/22/democrats-trump-name-kennedy-center-building/88281261007/NBC News - "Washington National Opera leaves Kennedy Center in wake of Trump renaming"
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/washington-national-opera-leave-kennedy-center-wake-trump-renaming-rcna253244
Kennedy Center - Programming & LGBTQ+ Issues
Vox - "Trump's petty revenge on the Kennedy Center"
https://www.vox.com/culture/399885/trump-kennedy-center-shonda-rhimesWashington Blade - "LGBTQ performers join Kennedy Center boycott following..."
https://www.washingtonblade.com/2025/03/12/lgbtq-performers-join-kennedy-center-boycott/Georgetown Voice - "The Kennedy Center: A new battleground in the culture war over drag"
https://georgetownvoice.com/2025/06/01/the-kennedy-center-a-new-battleground-in-the-culture-war-over-drag/New Ways Ministry - "Georgetown Students Protest Trump's Anti-LGBTQ Kennedy Center Policies"
https://www.newwaysministry.org/2025/06/18/georgetown-students-protest-trumps-anti-lgbtq-kennedy-center-policies/CNN - "Kennedy Center president rebukes performer who called..."
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/26/politics/kennedy-center-chuck-redd-trump
NEA Funding & Grant Terminations
New York Times - "The National Endowment for the Arts Begins Terminating..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/arts/national-endowment-for-the-arts-grants.htmlAmericans Supporting the Arts in New York (ASIWNY) - "What We Know (So Far): The NEA, NEH, and IMLS Face..."
https://www.asiwny.org/2025/05/08/what-we-know-so-far-nea-elimination/MASSCreative - "CUTS TO FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE ARTS"
https://www.mass-creative.org/learn/nea-grant-cutsNational Guild - "NEA Grant Terminations and NEA Funding Threatened"
https://nationalguild.org/news/field-news/nea-grant-terminations-and-nea-funding-threatenedWBUR - "Mass. arts organizations upended as NEA claws back..."
https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/05/07/mass-arts-organizations-nea-funding-cutsAmerican Theatre - "NEA Abruptly Pulls Arts Grants on a Massive Scale"
https://www.americantheatre.org/2025/05/05/nea-abruptly-pulls-arts-grants-on-a-massive-scale/Glasstire - "Texas Institutions Speak Out About Effects of NEA Federal Funding Terminations"
https://glasstire.com/2025/05/18/texas-institutions-speak-out-about-effects-of-nea-federal-funding-terminations/Arts North Carolina - "NEA Grants Cancelled, President Proposes Elimination..."
https://artsnc.org/nea-grants-cancelled-president-proposes-elimination-of-nea-neh-amp-imls/American Orchestras - "NEA Issues Grant Terminations: Speak Up Now"
https://americanorchestras.org/nea-issues-grant-terminations-speak-up-now/
NEA Budget & Congressional Action
Artnet News - "Congress Moves to Protect NEA and NEH Funding"
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/congress-funding-bill-nea-neh-2735600Theatre Communications Group - "Action Alert: Protect the NEA from Proposed Cuts"
https://tcg.org/Web/Web/News/News%20Items/action-alert-nea-cuts-fy26.aspxThe Art Newspaper - "US states step up to fund the arts in the wake of federal cuts"
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/07/21/us-states-step-up-to-fund-the-arts-in-the-wake-of-federal-cutsAmericans for the Arts - "National Endowment for the Arts—Funding for Arts Agencies"
https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/legislation-policy/legislative-issue-center/national-endowment-fHouse Appropriations Committee - "House Passes H.R. 7148 and H.R. 7147, Completing FY26 Appropriations..."
http://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-hr-7148-and-hr-7147-completing-fy26-appropriations-america-firsUNC Research - "January 2026 Federal and Legislative Updates"
https://research.unc.edu/2026/01/20/january-2026-federal-and-legislative-updates/Arts Alliance - "The Big Tent Gets Big Results"
https://artsalliance.org/2025/06/the-big-tent-gets-big-results/
NEA State Partnership Information
NASAA - "The Federal-State Partnership in the Arts"
https://nasaa-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Federal-State-Partnership-in-the-Arts-Policy-Brief.pdfNEA Archives - "National Endowment for the Arts and State Arts Agencies"
https://www.arts.gov/stories/magazine/2017/2/national-endowment-arts-and-state-arts-agencies-bringing-arts-peopleNEA - "HANDBOOK FOR STATE ARTS AGENCIES & REGIONAL..."
https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/SAA-RAO-Handbook-May-2018.pdf
Smithsonian Pressure & Historical Narratives
PBS NewsHour - "Smithsonian faces a deadline to show Trump its plans for exhibits..."
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/smithsonian-faces-a-deadline-to-show-trump-its-plans-for-exhibits-for-americas-250th-birthThe Art Newspaper - "Trump administration puts renewed pressure on Smithsonian Institution"
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/08/trump-administration-renewed-pressure-smithsonian-institutionThe Hill - "Smithsonian, under White House pressure, turns over..."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5688551-smithsonian-trump-exhibits-pressure/CNN - "As Trump goes after the arts, many museums remain silent"
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/28/style/art-museums-pressures-trumpPolitico - "White House announces Smithsonian review amid Trump's..."
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/12/smithsonian-museums-trump-review-00505838New York Times - "White House Announces Comprehensive Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/arts/design/smithsonian-exhibitions-review-white-house-trump.htmlNew York Times - "The Smithsonian Faces New Pressure to Submit to Trump's..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/arts/design/smithsonian-trump-pressure.htmlFox Baltimore - "Fact Check Team: Trump targets race and gender..."
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/nation-world/trump-targets-race-and-gender-narratives-in-federal-museums-smithsonian-jd-vance-exhiLos Angeles Times - "Philadelphia sues over removal of slavery exhibit at Independence National..."
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-01-23/philadelphia-sues-over-removal-of-slavery-exhibit-at-independence-national
Project 2025 & Education Policy
White House - Executive Order "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling"
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/Brookings Institution - "Project 2025 and education: A lot of bad ideas, some more actionable than others"
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/project-2025-and-education-a-lot-of-bad-ideas-some-more-actionable-than-others/PEN America - "Project 2025"
https://pen.org/report/project-2025/Mississippi Free Press - "Project 2025: Cuts to Education, Censorship, More Book Bans"
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/project-2025-offers-cuts-to-education-classroom-censorship-and-expanded-book-bans/National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) - "Project 2025 Poses a Danger to Inclusive English..."
https://ncte.org/blog/2024/07/project-2025-danger/American Oversight - "The Far-Right Attack on Education: How Curriculum and Classroom Censorship..."
https://americanoversight.org/resource/the-far-right-attack-on-education-how-curriculum-and-classroom-censorship-stifles-educatoBrookings Institution - "Why Are States Banning Critical Race Theory?"
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/U.S. Department of Education - "U.S. Department of Education Cuts Over $600 Million in Divisive Teacher Training Grants"
http://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-cuts-over-600-million-divisive-teacher-training-grantsUSC Race & Equity Center - "What does the 'Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12' executive order mean?"
https://race.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-Practice-Brief-Final-310.pdf
International Withdrawal
White House - Presidential Memorandum "Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations..."
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-international-organizations-conventions-and-treaties-that-are-contrary-to-the-interests-of-the-united-states/U.S. State Department - "Withdrawal from Wasteful, Ineffective, or Harmful International Organizations"
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/01/withdrawal-from-wasteful-ineffective-or-harmful-international-organizationsUNESCO - "Withdrawal of the United States of America from UNESCO: statement by Audrey Azoulay"
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/withdrawal-united-states-america-unesco-statement-audrey-azoulay-director-generalU.S. State Department - "The United States Withdraws from UNESCO"
https://www.state.gov/releases/2025/07/the-united-states-withdraws-from-the-united-nations-educational-scientific-and-cultural-oICCROM - "Statement on the United States' Announcement to Withdraw"
https://www.iccrom.org/news/statement-united-states%E2%80%99-announcement-withdraw-iccromAl Jazeera - "Which are the 66 global organisations the US is leaving under Trump"
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/8/which-are-the-66-global-organisations-the-us-is-leaving-under-trumpBBC - "Trump withdraws US from key climate treaty and dozens of..."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp80ln97py5oCreative Europe Desk UK - "Trump withdraws United States from 66 international..."
https://creativesunite.eu/article/trump-withdraws-united-states-from-international-nature-freedom-and-culture-bodiesLinkedIn - "US Withdrawal from ICCROM: Impacts on Cultural Heritage" by Sandro Kenkadze
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/us-withdrawal-from-iccrom-impacts-cultural-heritage-sandro-kenkadze-hbl0eNature - "The US is quitting 66 global agencies: what does it mean for science?"
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00102-0The Art Newspaper - "Trump pulls US out of international cultural property..."
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/08/trump-withdraws-united-states-iccrom-ifaccaHyperallergic - "Trump Withdraws From Major Culture Preservation Groups"
https://hyperallergic.com/trump-withdraws-from-major-culture-preservation-groups/Focus2030 - "United States withdrawal from 66 international organizations"
https://focus2030.org/en/united-states-withdrawal-from-66-international-organizations-a-new-step-in-a-disengagement-initiated-inVerfassungsblog - "Retreating from Internationalism"
https://verfassungsblog.de/the-announced-u-s-withdrawal-from-many-international-entities/Europa Nostra - Statement on ICCROM Withdrawal
https://x.com/europanostra/status/2009571640439378193
Resistance & Counter-Movements
Vera List Center - "Cultural Freedom Demands Collective Courage: A Nation..."
https://www.veralistcenter.org/announcements/cultural-freedom-demands-collective-courageNational Coalition Against Censorship / Artnet - "Artists and Organizations Rally Against Censorship in..."
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anti-censorship-letter-ncac-2681015Mimeta - "US Arts Institutions Unite Against Censorship"
https://www.mimeta.org/mimeta-news-on-censorship-in-art/2025/8/27/us-arts-institutions-unite-against-censorshipThe Art Newspaper - "More than 150 US arts organisations pledge to resist..."
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/08/25/arts-organisations-collective-statement-resisting-political-pressure
Fall of Freedom Movement
Artnet News - "Artists Across the U.S. Are Staging Hundreds of Events to..."
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/fall-of-freedom-2025-2716978NPR - "Nationwide, artists protest during 'Fall of Freedom'"
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/21/nx-s1-5609005/nationwide-artists-protest-fall-of-freedomEvrim Ağacı - "Artists Nationwide Rally In Fall Of Freedom Protests"
https://evrimagaci.org/gpt/artists-nationwide-rally-in-fall-of-freedom-protests-517238Fall of Freedom - Official website
https://www.falloffreedom.comNational Sawdust - "Fall of Freedom: Live at National Sawdust"
https://www.nationalsawdust.org/event/fall-of-freedom-live-at-national-sawdustNew York Times - "Artists Plan Nationwide Protests Against 'Authoritarian Forces'"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/arts/artists-trump-protests-fall-freedom.htmlAmerican Theatre - "'Fall of Freedom' to Unite Artists For Nationwide Creative Resistance"
https://www.americantheatre.org/2025/10/15/fall-of-freedom-to-unite-artists-for-nationwide-creative-resistance/
State Arts Funding
Arts Alliance / NASAA Data - State appropriations analysis
https://artsalliance.org/advocacy/federal/The Art Newspaper - "US states step up to fund the arts in the wake of federal cuts"
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/07/21/us-states-step-up-to-fund-the-arts-in-the-wake-of-federal-cutsThe Parallel - "States Pick Up the Slack on Arts Funding After Federal..."
https://news.theparallel.nyc/articles/art-news/states-pick-up-the-slack-on-arts-fundingIllinois Arts Council - "The Muse Newsletter"
https://arts.illinois.gov/content/soi/arts/en/news/2025/2025-09-19-the-muse.htmlGovernor Pritzker (Instagram) - "Governor Pritzker Announces $16.2 Million in FY26 Arts..."
https://www.instagram.com/p/DO7INdTjG4B/Boston Art Review - "After Facing $1.35 Million in Cuts, New Hampshire's Arts..."
https://www.bostonartreview.com/read/nh-creative-culture-summit-2025-aimee-terravechia
Legal Challenges
Democracy Forward - "Kennedy Center Info Request"
https://democracyforward.org/news/press-releases/kennedy-center-info-request/Washington Litigation Group - "New Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Renaming of the Kennedy Center"
https://washingtonnlitigationgroup.org/news/new-lawsuit-challenges-illegal-renaming-of-the-kennedy-center/Congresswoman Joyce Beatty - "New Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Renaming of the Kennedy Center"
https://beatty.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/new-lawsuit-challenges-illegal-renaming-of-the-kennedy-centerWashingtonian - "Can Trump Actually Name the Kennedy Center After Himself?"
https://washingtonian.com/2025/12/19/can-trump-actually-name-the-kennedy-center-after-himself/
Additional Context & Analysis
Hyperallergic - "How Trump Impacted Arts and Culture in 2025"
https://hyperallergic.com/how-trump-impacted-arts-and-culture-in-2025/Pittsburgh Arts Council - "Trump's Impact on the Arts: A Running List of Updates"
https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/blog/trumps-impact-arts-running-list-updatesOregon ArtsWatch - "Arts & politics 2025: Trump assaults top the year's cultural news"
https://www.orartswatch.org/arts-politics-2025-trump-assaults-top-the-years-cultural-news/TIME Magazine - "Trump's Campaign to Defund the Arts—and Rewrite History"
https://time.com/7327987/trump-defund-arts-rewrite-history/Brookings Institution - "Defending American arts, culture, and democracy"
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/defending-american-arts-culture-and-democracy/
Reference Materials
Wikipedia - "Kennedy Center"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_CenterWikipedia - "Richard Grenell"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_GrenellU.S. Code - Title 20, Chapter 3, Subchapter 5: "JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS"
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title20%2Fchapter3%2Fsubchapter5&edition=prelimCongress.gov - H. RES. 973
https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hres973/BILLS-119hres973ih.pdf
