One of the world’s largest festivals devoted to the art of tap dancing, the annual Soul 2 Sole Festival, scheduled for June by Tapestry Dance Company at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, has been canceled because the National Endowment for the Arts has withdrawn previously approved grants for Tapestry, along with more than a dozen other Austin arts groups.
The NEA sent an email Friday night to hundreds of arts companies across the country — and scores in Texas — informing them that grants already approved and announced would be canceled on May 31. The email reads in part: “The NEA is updating its grant-making policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities”
Tapestry had been scheduled to receive $30,000 in support.
“This festival has been more than just a series of performances and classes,” said Acia Gray, artistic and executive director of Tapestry in a statement Sunday. “Soul 2 Sole has served as a sanctuary and a spotlight for tap dancers worldwide — a space for tradition, innovation and community. To cancel our 25th anniversary due to the unexpected loss of NEA support is heartbreaking, not just for Tapestry but for the entire tap family that gathers here each year.”
Last month, a statewide advocacy group, Humanities Texas, which provides support for museums, libraries, schools and other cultural projects, lost grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Humanities Texas, which had been slated to receive $2.6 million, is a key instrument for channeling federal funds directed to the humanities across the state — to projects such as the recent traveling “Juneteenth Rodeo” exhibit with photos and stories by author Sarah Bird. The cuts came to 65% of its annual budget.
The NEA, an independent agency created in 1965 by the Congress through an act signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, also cut grants for Latinitas, Zach Theater, Creative Action, Lannaya, Austin Film Festival, American Short Fiction, Austin Film Society, Conspirare, Museum of Human Achievement, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival and Women & Their Work, among others, according to the Austin Chronicle. Some groups already plan to appeal the decisions.
Women and Their Works was awarded $35,000 by letter in November 2024. The NEA announced the award, along with others, in January.
“We have already spent the money on the programs that we thought had been approved,” Chris Cowden, executive director of the arts organization, told the American-Statesman. “This is a huge blow, not only to Women & Their Works, but to the arts throughout the country. We feel especially connected to the NEA as Women & Their Work was the first organization in Texas to receive a grant from the NEA in visual art in the 1980s. It is hard to accept that it has been zeroed out by a federal agency in next year’s budget.”
“Eliminating this funding will have devastating consequences for our public life, our collective cultural heritage and our ability to gather together in celebration of our shared humanity,” said Zach artistic director Dave Steakley and managing director Jamie Herlich in a joint statement sent out Monday. “Arts organizations across the country rely on a variety of funding sources — including those from the NEA and other government entities — to meet their overall revenue needs. In particular, for many rural and under-resourced communities, NEA funding is the primary — sometimes only — means of funding.”
Is there a chance that the 2025 Tapestry dance festival next month could be salvaged by a generous donor?
“Unfortunately, most of our festival involves out-of-town artists,” Gray told the Statesman. “I really couldn’t wait too long before giving notice. They’re all taking a pretty big financial hit, and I wanted to be sure they could perhaps set up other work. That’s the most heartbreaking and frustrating element of all of this: loss of work for the artists, designers and technicians.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Dance festival canceled: NEA withdraws grants to more than a dozen Austin arts groups
Reporting by Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
