The Department of Government Efficiency pulled grants awarded to the National Endowment for the Humanities and fired 80% of the organization's staff in March.
The NEH funds historical preservation and community-based research, such as Ken Burns' film "The Civil War."
The endowment also helps fund humanities councils in all 50 states – and they're seeing cuts now as well.
These state councils support local art programs, museums, libraries and other projects.
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Florida Humanities was set to receive $1.7 million from the endowment before funding was pulled. Now, the organization is planning to cut programming and seek funding elsewhere.
WUSF spoke with Nashid Madyun, the executive director of Florida Humanities, about how the cuts could impact the arts in Florida.
How does Florida Humanities support organizations, such as local museums and libraries? And why are humanities so important?
Florida Humanities exists as the storyteller of Florida, and when you capture those stories you also preserve the heritage and culture of those communities. And some of those stories are in rural and underserved or hard-to-reach places. They're community heroes that are doing significant things to uplift society.
Humanities also helps people in conversation and community dialogue.
And these DOGE cuts that the National Endowment for the Humanities has faced, how are those going to impact local humanities programs supported by your organization?
We facilitate a lot of grant-making, and our grant-making is supported with NEH federal dollars. We did have, slated for this year, two grant rounds, and that's about $250,000 there that we won't be able to award a variety of programs that they've taken the time to gather information and position scholars to ensure authenticity and integrity of the work they do to tell those stories, volunteers and scheduling activities – that's going to stop. They would need to rethink how to produce those programs. Some of those programs will not happen. And so those cuts really put a stop to a lot of the advancement in the communities.
What specific projects, especially locally, are going to be impacted by these cuts?
The Ybor Historical Society, Sulphur Springs [History Museum], Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa Bay History Center, those are a few of the organizations that receive support from us. That support would not be there. This past year, the Sulphur Springs History Museum received a Smithsonian exhibition from us. But projects like that would not be funded.
So, the Tampa Bay region is taking full advantage of our activity. Last year, we were able to complete a documentary that examined the impact of Hurricane Ian. The documentary also looks at resilience, how the community rebuilds. So, we were seeking to launch that documentary but also position it so that during the upcoming hurricane season people can see the impact of the hurricane but also understand the resources available to them so they can prepare and move forward.
Disseminating that rich history will be reduced. We will be able to have screenings and share it in some way, but not on the scale we would like.
In the absence of this federal money from the endowment, how will Florida Humanities continue to function and be funded?
We have to look at alternative sources. We have a good history of membership support, foundation support, individual support over the past 50 years. And so, we will scale back some of the activities. We won't reach 67 counties of course. We will have to focus on those counties we can have access to.
There are specialized programs like our Humanities Festival that we just had in Sarasota at the Selby Library – some 400 to 500 people showed up and were able to understand the rich history of that region.
Programs like that will either be scaled back or cut.
What does your organization want to highlight through the work?
We definitely want to highlight the value of humanities and understanding what it is that tell the stories of people, understanding the triumphs and the obstacles; and capturing those stories and being the champion of those stories is incredible, and we need to continue that good work and ensure that we are disseminating the culture and the legacy of Florida around the state and beyond.
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