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Pittsburgh arts groups have begun formally responding to the turmoil their community has been experiencing under the second Trump administration.
On March 3, Pittsburgh Public Theater sent an email reaffirming its community-minded values and promising it “will not pursue or accept funding that compromises our mission or forces us to denounce our dedication to YOU.”
The message followed moves by the federal National Endowment for the Arts, as directed by presidential executive orders, to require applicants to promise they didn’t promote so-called “gender ideology” or “diversity, equity and inclusion,” or DEI.
Days later, in the printed program for its latest production, “Birthday Candles,” City Theatre expressly noted that such changes at the NEA could make City and “countless other cultural institutions … ineligible to receive support simply because of our programing, personal identities and values.” It also urged audiences to “speak up for the arts and freedom of expression.”
Managing director James McNeel says City’s staff felt it was time to address the matter. “Our main objective was awareness,” he says. “To let [audiences] know that we need you, and your action can have dividends in helping us.”
As it happens, on this front, the arts world can breathe a bit easier, at least for now. Late last week, a lawsuit against the NEA filed by the ACLU and other parties prompted the agency to effectively put the “gender ideology” rule on hold. That followed a pause on the anti-DEI rule, prompted by an earlier lawsuit.
All of that “certainly alleviates some of the stress and the concerns for now,” McNeel said. (The company received an NEA grant this year and is applying for another for 2026.)
In a month when Trump’s sudden takeover of the Kennedy Center inspired the creator and producers of “Hamilton” to cancel a scheduled run there, and after numerous other acts either pulled out or mysteriously disappeared from the Center’s calendar, the NEA’s tentative moves seemed a welcome boost for free expression.
But the realm of arts funding, of which the NEA is just one small part, still faces much uncertainty.
Take philanthropies. In January, another of Trump’s executive orders targeted large foundations — with assets of $500 million or more each — for possible investigation over their DEI practices. (Yes, the administration really hates DEI initiatives, which it paints as discriminatory and even illegal, though those initiatives’ express purpose is to eliminate discrimination.)
Pittsburgh has several philanthropies of that size, all of which play key roles in funding the arts here. I contacted three of them — the Heinz Endowments, the Hillman Family Foundations, and the Pittsburgh Foundation — seeking comment on that executive order and whether their practices have changed. By press time, none had replied.
If the lack of replies reflected reticence, it’s understandable. While at least one big philanthropy, the MacArthur Foundation, has announced it’ll be giving more in response to the moment, many more have cautiously stayed quiet on the matter.
(It should be noted that just this Tuesday, the Heinz Endowments similarly announced that in response to “[r]ecent and anticipated federal policy changes as well as local government funding and budget changes,” it was increasing its regular grants budget for 2025 by 5% and launching the Community Partners Fund, meant “to provide resources for partners to support our community’s vulnerable populations.”)
For the arts no less than other sectors, it all suggests a larger climate of uncertainty. Patrick Fisher, executive director of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, a nonprofit advocacy group, acknowledges that the NEA’s suspension of its new rules is of little help to groups those rules had already alienated — or that simply didn’t have time to rewrite their applications.
It’s also worth noting that no one knows what the courts will ultimately decide about the NEA’s new rules … or how the Trump administration will respond to any court rulings. The NEA could still box out DEI and “gender ideology.”
But regardless, that climate of uncertainty is also one of fear. One local artist who often applies for grants from funders based here and elsewhere reported seeing the change in philanthropy, a field where DEI values have been central, and encouraged, for years. Now, “They don’t want to hear it, they don’t want to read it, they don’t want to see it,” says the artist, who asked to remain anonymous.
He fears that if philanthropies are singled out for investigation over their arts funding, it could end up hurting their efforts in areas like housing, education or health care. And he worries that artists could suffer even for something as simple as making work that aims to speak to a certain demographic, even if the work is not explicitly political.
Culture matters. One way we know is that authoritarians so often target it.
The Pittsburgh artist cited book bans. He might also have noted the Taliban’s destruction of Buddha statues in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley — or the proposed Congressional legislation that threatened to defund Washington, D.C., if it didn’t efface its landmark Black Lives Matter mural (which the city began doing this week).
As he put it, “They really are trying to eliminate arts and culture generated by certain people, and that’s terrifying.”
