Last week, the Inheritance Theater Project (ITP) was notified that an awarded grant from the National Endowment for the Arts had been cancelled. ITP is one of many arts organizations across the country that received similarly disappointing and disruptive notices. 

 

Arts funding makes up .003% of the federal budget. These cuts are not about saving money. .003% is one of the lowest percentages of arts funding for any democracy on the planet. .003% may seem meager, but the news is devastating for many American artists and organizations who rely on this funding. And there’s a more profound reality on the horizon. The White House’s budget calls for the elimination of the NEA, which would amount to an unpatriotic act of sabotage on the national culture. 

 

Patriotism is a commitment to the national project, a belief in the more perfect union that America can become. Getting there requires imagination, creativity, and courage. It demands innovation from those who are used to making it work with duct tape and gumption. It requires a common culture. In other words: we need artists. While some governments seek to perpetuate their power through cultural handcuffs, artists see a better way.

 

Artists are responsible for popular and unpopular culture. Unpopular culture doesn’t hit big on social media or the 24 hour news cycle. Unpopular culture doesn’t fit in the attention span of tiktok. Unpopular culture doesn’t affirm your worldview or dismiss perspectives that might challenge it. Unpopular culture is harder to fund. It’s the slow, long-form, community bridge building art that moves at the speed of trust (thank you, adrienne maree brown). It puts you in relationship with folks on the other side of the issues you care about deeply. It may not be “cool” or “easy” to share space with people who look, vote, or pray differently than you. But it is patriotic.

 

ITP is working to build an America where neighbors co-exist in collaborative civic relationships. To get there, we co-create culture. We have active projects in four different cities around the United States right now, and a waiting list of more than two dozen cities hoping that our participatory playmaking process can foster connection across the chasms of polarization. 

 

The NEA may be stepping back from its commitments, but we are not stepping back from ours. We’re not ceding the stage. We’re using participatory playmaking as a rehearsal for participatory democracy. And we’re grateful to be in this work together with you.

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Jon Adam Ross and Zhailon Levingston

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