Photo by James Jackman
Audio By Carbonatix
This summer, arts nonprofits across the United States received the same message from the National Endowment for the Arts: Their funding would be unceremoniously terminated, effective May 31st. In the letter, the NEA explicitly stated that it intended to fund “projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.” Entities that received the notice were told their funding did not align with those priorities, but that they could appeal the decision.
The effects of those decisions, made in Washington, D.C., are acutely felt in Miami. Local arts nonprofits use NEA funding to provide artists opportunities through residencies, exhibitions, and research, without excessive oversight and control. Public funding allows organizations wiggle room to put on less commercial exhibitions, often touching on subject areas that may be deemed taboo or politically charged, without the threat of censorship from wealthy donors and stakeholders.
Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova, cofounder of Dimensions Variable, a local artist studio, exhibition space, and arts institution founded in Miami in 2009, says the privatization of arts organizations is “running rampant.” He explains that “government funding, whether it’s city, county, state, or [federal], helps to support wider ranges of what you can produce.”
At Dimensions Variable, NEA funding was used to pay artists and writers mounting contemporary art exhibitions. Frances Trombly, cofounder and vice chair at the studio, and Rodriguez-Casanova’s wife, spoke to New Times after DV received notice that its NEA funding had been cut. Among her concerns: The studio did not know whether it would be reimbursed for funds it had already spent. She also worried about “the possibility to pay any [artists] moving forward, unless we receive new funding, of course.”
Rodriguez-Casanova says unexpected budget cuts such as these leave organizations scrambling, with potential emergency measures including cancelling initially budgeted programming, raising membership rates, charging cover fees, or raising rents for the local artists who use DV for studio space.
Adding insult to grievous injury, the slashing of federal funds is just the latest drawback for cultural organizations already stretched thin by state and local cuts. In August, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava faced backlash from cultural organizations who objected to her 2025-26 budget proposal, which would have slashed $12.8 million in local cultural funding and folded the Department of Cultural Affairs into the Library Department. Cava later walked that back, committing to restoring $11.5 million in funding. Commissioners approved her budget last month. Still, the uncertainty came just over a year after Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed nearly $32 million in state funding for the arts.
Kathryn Mikesell, executive director of Fountainhead, a local artist residency that brings global artists to Miami for a month at a time, tells New Times that even before the recent blow from the NEA, the organization lost a $110,000 grant from the state after the governor’s veto.
Both Fountainhead and Dimensions Variable have appealed the termination of their NEA funds, but as the DLC budget fiasco exemplified, the organizations stress that community involvement is key to fighting against these trends.
“If people want organizations and projects to stay in their community, they’re going to have to help fund them,” says Trombly. “These small organizations have got to see funding from outside. County funding is lower, we don’t even know what’s happening with the state, and federal is gone.”
Rodriguez-Casanova says these studios already enjoy plenty of community support, but funding is crucial. He poses a hypothetical: What if the organizations’ Instagram followers contributed $1 each month to three studios? It would be “a good stream of income” for studios boasting between 7,500 and 10,000 followers, he explains. The challenge, he says, is “lobbying for [the public] to understand that.”