Austin dance company loses $30k after NEA cuts, cancels annual festival
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Acia Gray has been teaching Austinites how to tap dance since the 1980s.
“The Tapestry Dance Company has been around since October of 1989,” said Gray, Tapestry's co-founder. “[We’ve taught] thousands. And we're really proud because many of those individuals went on to professional dance careers.”
A centerpiece of Tapestry’s work is its annual Soul 2 Sole Festival, which draws students and dancers from all over the world to celebrate tap dancing. The 25th festival was scheduled to start on June 18.
“Then I got an email,” Gray said. “It said your grant's gone.”
As a nonprofit, Tapestry had relied on National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants to help fund the annual festival. This year, Gray said she was approved to receive $30,000 to put on the event. Gray announced the festival’s cancellation on Sunday.
“I was at first mad. And then I started thinking about the artists and the people who had already signed up to be here,” she said. “That's like the knife that stabs hard.”
Gray sent us the email she received from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“The NEA is updating its grantmaking 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,” it read in part.
“The NEA will now prioritize projects that elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities,” the email continued.
Several other organizations, including the city of Austin, the Austin Film Festival, and the Mexic-Arte Museum, receive NEA grant funding.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Nexstar on Monday that some federal cuts are necessary to chip away at the national debt.
“We're going to have to cut somewhere,” he said. “When you start looking at trimming that spending, there are going to be some people [who] are not going to be entirely happy. But what we should do is listen to the concerns," Cornyn continued. “Budgeting is about prioritizing."
While Gray is not happy with the news, she said she feels heartened by the community outreach.
“I think if anything, the love and support that we have gotten – it is humbling,” Gray said.