12 JULY 17-23, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | funding, the university will have to stop or signifi cantly slow down the completion of the JBCEH space, the capstone of a new building on the CSU campus. “The build- ing will serve nearly every undergraduate student at CSU,” Dickinson says, adding that the space would be “a cornerstone of humanities research and programming in Colorado. ...The lost NEH funds undermine our ability to support our communities.” Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum was to receive a $73,595 NEH grant for the planning of a 2027 exhibition, Queens to Comadres: Maya Women Then and Now. “We followed the news and learned that grants were being terminated,” says DAM spokesperson Andy Sinclair. “We checked on our funding in the NEH’s online portal and confi rmed the termination at that time.” The DAM had not yet submitted its re- quest for payment because the grant project period was midstream when the award was terminated. “The agency has stated they will review these grants and expenses, and if approved, we can make a formal reimburse- ment request,” Sinclair says. “If approved, we will receive less than one-third of our original award amount.” While the loss of federal funding caused an interruption with several exhibition planning projects, Sinclair says that the museum is for- tunate not to have to rely completely on federal grants to continue to operate, and has been able to adapt the project’s budget to continue. “It’s challenging for organizations to fi nd funders to fi ll the gap left by the loss of critical federal funds,” Sinclair says of groups that aren’t so fortunate. Going forward, she adds, the loss of federal funding could impact choices DAM makes about programming. “We are at a critical moment for the arts and humanities in this country, and it is more important than ever that you support your lo- cal organizations,” Sinclair says. “...Everyone should connect with their representatives and advocate for the programs they value.” History Colorado Center History Colorado Center director of market- ing & communications Jeannie McFarland Johnson says that while History Colorado has received NEH funding in the past, most of that funding lapsed in FY24 or before. “Most notably and re- cently, NEH funded our Lost Highways podcast and provided some fund- ing in support of the Sand Creek Massacre exhibi- tion,” she says. National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville The National Mining Hall of Fame and Mu- seum in Leadville, which educates the public about mining’s role in the de- velopment of modern society, received $9,997 in NEH funding for sup- port and planning before it was notifi ed that fund- ing had been rescinded. “While we were able to receive the immediate funding,” says grant writer Elsa Coughlin, “this will have negative impacts in the near future, as the funding was part of a phased multi-year project that heav- ily relies on the funding.” Losing Institute of Museum and Library Services funding in addition to NEH funding has restricted projects the museum planned to tackle, she adds, noting that “many of the projects are urgently needed to ensure the longevity of our 1800s building and Matchless Mine Historic Site.” Poudre Heritage Alliance The Poudre Heritage Alliance in Fort Col- lins uses educational programming to help people understand the national signifi cance of the Poudre River and its role in infl uencing water development, management and law. The Alliance was to receive a $25,000 NEH grant for the project Interpretation Guru: Building Capacity for Effective Interpreta- tion Across Cache NHA. That grant was cut. According to Poudre Heritage Alliance executive director Sabrina Stoker, while the funding cut had an immediate impact, the organization was in the back half of the project and only had about $6,000 remaining in project costs. “For us as a National Heritage Area, the devastating blow is that of the withholding of FY25 funding that has been appropriated by Congress with CR3 but is being withheld by the Offi ce of Management and Budget and be- ing zeroed out in the upcoming FY26 budget,” she adds. “There are three NHAs in Colorado who work to tell the Colorado experience and America’s stories: Cache la Poudre River, Sangre de Cristo, and South Park. Each year, Congress appropriates $500,000 to each of these NHAs, so that’s $1.5M in humanities funding cut in Colorado in areas that drive tour- ism and generate signifi cant economic activity.” Stoker says the Alliance of National Heri- tage Areas, which represents all 62 National Heritage Areas designated by Congress, is raising the alarm. “OMB intends to use a rarely used measure called a pocket reces- sion to ‘run the clock’ out on funding that does not match the administration’s priori- ties,” she says, adding that this would mean having to cut approximately 80 percent of Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area’s programming. Regis University A federally-designated Jesuit Hispanic Serv- ing Institution, Regis University was going to be awarded a $126,226.70 NEH grant for the project Placemaking in Practice: Muse- ums, Archives, Gallery Studies Certifi cation and Minor. On April 2, Regis learned that grant had been cancelled. “We received zero dollars of the award, effectively cutting our planned support for the next three years,” says as- sistant professor of Art History Khristin N. Montes, who notes that losing the funding means starting from scratch in terms of plan- ning and funding the program. “We must now reconsider how we will gain access to needed supplies and materials for faculty, staff and our students,” she adds. Montes says that Regis will continue to lean into its educational mission, but is cur- rently assessing its options for working with private foundations and donors to support the museum, archives and gallery studies certifi cate. “People are more unsure of the value of a college degree than ever before,” Montes says. “One way to help support Regis is to share your own experiences in college, if you attended, and the ways in which humanities courses expanded your thinking and view of the world, regardless of your eventual career. People need to know that college is worth it, not just in terms of the higher salary.” University of Colorado Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs had been awarded a $246,320 NEH grant for the project Illuminating the Past: A Summer Institute on Multispectral Imaging and Cul- tural Heritage Preservation. UCCS spokes- person Chris Valentine says that while the university received the April 2 notifi cation that its grant had been terminated, the uni- versity had already been awarded the full amount to spend throughout the grant period. “We were only reimbursed for the costs incurred, and we did not spend $211,219 of the total awarded amount,” Valentine says. Email the author at kristen.fi [email protected]. Culture continued from page 10 Regis University is a federally-designated Jesuit Hispanic Serving Institution. REGIS UNIVERSIT Y
