Federal grant cuts put ArtWorks youth job program, public art works in jeopardy

CINCINNATI — The “abrupt loss” of a $100,000 grant has now put youth programming and public arts projects that would have supported Avondale at risk, according to an announcement from ArtWorks.

ArtWorks said the “Our Town” grant would have come from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), but federal cuts to grants pulled it back, despite the funding having already been awarded to ArtWorks in 2024.

The grant was intended to help focus on integrating arts, culture and design into local efforts to strengthen communities for the long term, according to ArtWorks.

ArtWorks said it was planning to use the funding for workforce development, job creation, community engagement and the creation of a public art project for a gateway to the CROWN Trail. The CROWN trail is a safe biking and pedestrian trail that, when complete, will stretch 34 miles through the city, including through Avondale.

“We are concerned not only for the dismantling of our local project, but the larger effort to eliminate the NEA from next year’s federal budget,” said Colleen Houston, CEO and artistic director for ArtWorks, in a press release. “Defunding the arts has devastating consequences for young people, working artists and the vitality of communities across the country.”

Houston told WVXU she didn’t think clawing back the funds made sense, because President Donald Trump has talked about creating jobs, and the grant funding would have done that for roughly 30 teenagers in Avondale over two years.

“For teens, unemployment is often double the national average and so having a job opportunity that could be your first job opportunity is really life changing,” she told WVXU. “It really changes your economic circumstances to set you on a pathway to be successful as a worker your whole life.”

ArtWorks said it is actively appealing the revocation of the grant. It also urged people to reach out to US representatives over the possible elimination of the NEA.

Earlier this year, Trump also proposed eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services, threatening tens of thousands of dollars in grant funding for Cincinnati-area museums.

Cody Hefner, CMC vice president of marketing and communications, said in March that two grants totaling nearly $500,000 for the CMC had already been largely paid out and wouldn’t be affected by proposed cuts, but a portion of a $500,000 grant to the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center for a social justice gallery hadn’t been allocated and could be at risk.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Contemporary Arts Center said the elimination of the IMLS would put a $173,885 award for teen programs at risk as the grant was slated to be paid out over three years between September 2025 and September 2028.

That cut will also hit teen-oriented programming, CAC told us. The CAC said IMLS funding has allowed them to provide a safe space to 3,000 teens annually.

“Without these IMLS funds, CAC is likely to have to significantly scale back our free teen programs. If IMLS is eliminated, CAC will have to seek to replace these funds through other donations at a moment when museums across the country are already facing dips in donor funding. The elimination of this support will hurt across the field but it will hurt your smaller budget museums like CAC much more at this particular moment in time,” the statement read.

CAC has also begun charging admission fees from visitors; the museum was previously free. Now, general admission of $12 is being charged for each adult. Children under 18 do not have to pay admission, nor do museum members or SNAP and EBT recipients.