Shock Funding Cuts Hit Local Arts Scene: NEA Pulls Grants from Farm Arts Collective and NACL

This past weekend, an unexpected email from the National Endowment for the Arts landed like a bang at two local theatre companies: Farm Arts Collective in Damascus, Pennsylvania, and NACL in Highland Lake, NY.

Farm Arts was informed that its $10,000 federal arts grant, already awarded and in use for their 2025 production, was being withdrawn. NACL lost a $20,000 grant. No explanation. No warning.

These funding losses could threaten not only these local groups but also the local cultural and economic ecosystem that has grown up around them.

We spoke to Tannis Kowalchuk, founding artistic director of Farm Arts Collective, and Brett Keyser, Director of Engagement at NACL, about the broader implications of this decision—from the fate of rural arts organizations to the value the country places on its creative voices.

Image: Farm Arts Collective had been awarded $10,000 from the NEA Challenge America grant to produce DREAM ON THE FARM 2025, but now the funding is being withdrawn, well into the fifth month of play development. (Credit: Farm Arts Collective)