“All art is political in the sense that it serves someone’s politics.”
August Wilson
When I was a senior in high school deciding on a college I was adamant that the place I would spend the next four years at would have to have great theaters. And when I moved to Hartford in the fall, my first excursion off campus was to see a production of Fun Home, a coming of age musical about a girl coming to terms with her sexuality, at TheaterWorks Hartford, a non-profit professional theater in downtown Hartford.
Having the ability to easily go and see local professional theater artists tell poignant stories like Fun Home has been an essential resource and source of inspiration for me while working towards my theater degree the past three years.
That same year, 2022, TheaterWorks received a $155,000 cultural operating support grant from CT Humanities, the statewide affiliate of The National Endowment of Humanities (NEH). That year, the CT Cultural Fund Operating Grant gave over $16 million in awards to 632 Connecticut organizations including Hartford Stage, The Bushnell and Hartbeat Ensemble.
However, Trump’s recent executive orders have substantially altered the NEH process. Trump executive orders require NEH Awards to not be given to organizations that will use the funding for; “the promotion of gender ideology; promotion of discriminatory equity ideology; support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives or activities; or environmental justice initiatives or activities.” CT Humanities has yet to publicly announce how or if these changes affect their awards.
In the 2025 fiscal year, six Connecticut arts organizations were each awarded $10,000 Challenge America grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). Challenge America provided support to smaller arts organizations, “that extend the reach of the arts to populations that are underserved.”
Earlier this year the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) announced that their Challenge America grant program will be canceled beginning in 2026 so that they could prioritize funding projects that celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Public funding is a necessity for non-profit theater organizations. Ticket sales, individual and private funding alone are rarely enough to fund a full season of productions and run their community engagement programs. The NEH and the NEA have become essential sources of funds for theaters since their conceptions in 1965.
Giving the opportunity for new voices and stories to emerge through independent theater is, in my opinion, essential for the betterment of society. Seeing and understanding diverse stories allows for a more compassionate and intelligent society. Arthur Miller once said, “The mission of the theatre, after all, is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibilities.” A failure to fund arts is a failure to voice independent thoughts and discussions. It is a failure to maintain communities that initiate change. It is a failure to students, who benefit from reading plays in classrooms.
While these small arts organizations are facing funding regulations and cuts it is important that we as citizens continue to see shows, and tell other people to see shows and donate when you can. Hartbeat Ensemble Artistic Director and Visiting Professor of Theater and Dance at Trinity College, Godfrey Simmons implores those who care to, “support Hartford’s Public Theatre… to support all the theaters here in Greater Hartford with your money and your feet. Go! You have the actual power to keep us going so that we can continue to tell stories that help us–you, for we are you–to move forward and find the third, fourth and fifth ways to enfranchise us all.”
This past weekend I went back to TheaterWorks to see the last show of their production of King James, a play that tackles microaggressions and implicit bias in an interracial friendship. I left wondering if we’ll be able to see stories like these in a year.
Kathleen Kelly is a junior at Trinity College, majoring in Public Policy & Law and Theater & Dance.
