In February, amid a slew of Trump mandates targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, the NEA cancelled its Challenge America program for at least the 2026 fiscal year. The program, founded in 2001 to designate funds for organizations reaching “underserved communities,” awarded $10,000 grants to small nonprofits and was long seen as an entry point for smaller organizations to receive federal funding.
Under new requirements released last month, applicants must certify that they will not use federal funds to “promote gender ideology,” a move that artists immediately condemned.
Hyperallergic contacted several current and previous Challenge America grant recipients. Leaders of the nonprofits that received the grants said that the cancellation could pit them against larger, better-resourced organizations in the remaining Grants for Arts Projects program and would subject them to stricter entry requirements, including demonstrating five years of prior arts programming, rather than three.
The NEA has not yet responded to Hyperallergic’s repeated requests for comment.
Wright-Cunniff said Backstreet Community Arts applied to Challenge America because of the relative simplicity of its application, compared to the Grants for Art Projects. The Challenge America application also offered “enhanced technological assistance resources.”
While the NEA previously told Hyperallergic that the cancellation of Challenge America will only apply to future applicants, uncertainty remains for the 2025 awardees, as the agency implements new compliance requirements.
Latinitas, an Austin-based nonprofit with culturally informed science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) programming for girls, received a 2025 grant from the NEA to support a public mosaic project honoring women of color from East Austin.
“At its core, this project is about representation and resilience — ensuring that amid Austin’s rapid gentrification, residents see themselves reflected in the city’s evolving landscape,” Gabriela Kane Guardia, executive director of Latinitas, said.
On February 27, a Challenge America team member told Guardia in an email that Latinitas’s award was under review to “ensure compliance with federal rules and regulations.”