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Johanna K. Taylor, Associate Professor, The Design School, Arizona State University

With federal funding in question, artists can navigate a perilous future by looking to the past

Keith Haring paints a mural in New York City on Aug. 20, 1987. Mark Hinjosa/Newsday RM via Getty Images

In a February 2025 Truth Social post, President Donald Trump declared a “Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”

So far, this “golden age” has entailed an executive order calling for the federal agency that funds local museums and libraries to be dismantled, with most grants rescinded. The Trump administration has forbidden federal arts funding from going to artists who promote what the administration calls “gender ideology.” There’s been a purge of the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with Trump appointing himself chair. And the administration has canceled National Endowment for the Humanities grants.

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