How NEA dollars are spent in Arizona: 5 projects
Kerry Lengel of The Republic takes a closer look at the proposed federal budget. Focusing on the National Endowment for the Arts, marked for elimination in the Trump administration, Lengel argues that the NEA is valuable to Arizona. He uses the $22,000 grant awarded by the NEA to Arizona Opera's World Premiere of Riders of the Purple Sage as a prime example.
“The NEA’s value is so much more than the checks they cut. The NEA has been important as a sort of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. … When you have a project that has the support of the NEA, it’s a real mark of pride, and it gives a sort of tailwind to go and talk to our community and say, ‘The NEA believes in this project, and we want you to be a part of it.’”