Hundreds of Museum and Library Grants Terminated Overnight

Grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) were slashed overnight as Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continue their decimation of federal arts and culture funding in the United States. According to AFGE Local 3403, the union representing workers at IMLS and other federal agencies, “terminations are estimated to number well over a thousand.” 

The news comes less than a month after the president signed an executive order effectively dismantling the IMLS by limiting the agency to “statutorily required” functions and mandating cuts to its workforce.

“Upon further review, IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program,” reads the letter sent to recipient organizations last night, April 9, copies of which were reviewed by Hyperallergic.

The notices were signed by IMLS Acting Director Keith Sonderling, a recent Trump appointee who last month pledged to “promote American exceptionalism” at the cultural funding agency, raising serious concerns among civil liberties groups nationwide.

Among those affected was the Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) in Kingston, New York, which depended on its now-canceled $71,000 grant from IMLS to fund a year-long afterschool program for local immigrant teens led by artist Wendy Ewald.

The news was a double blow for the Hudson River Valley nonprofit, which had just learned of the termination of its $21,535 Public Impact grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) for a bookmaking workshop this summer.

“In our case, federal funding represents nearly 10 percent of the annual CPW budget,” the organization’s Executive Director Brian Wallis said in a statement. “Wholesale cuts to that funding will be crushing.”

Over 1,000 grants were abruptly canceled by the NEH last week in sparsely worded letters citing the need to “safeguard the interests of the federal government,” echoing the language of the recent IMLS notices. The rescinded NEH awards ranged from modest amounts for smaller organizations to more sizable sums, like the Museum of the City of New York’s $100,000 grant for its Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100 exhibition and programs.

Many institutions that received IMLS notices yesterday are taking to social media to decry the loss of funding and demand that the government reinstate money that, in some cases, has already been spent — leaving organizations like the Chester County History Center in Pennsylvania high and dry. The center learned at 10pm last night that its $100,000 IMLS award to digitize its collections had been rescinded, Director Conor Hepp explained in a video posted on LinkedIn.

“Now, not only has that work been cut short, but we’ve been left with a financial burden as the federal government owes us funds with no indication that they will be reimbursed,” Hepp said.

The abrupt grant cancellations at NEH and IMLS are occurring alongside massive staff cuts at both agencies. On April 3, the IMLS’s board of trustees sent a letter to Sonderling, reviewed by Hyperallergic, seeking an explanation for the decision to place agency employees on immediate administrative leave.

“We are concerned that neither the Advisory Board, the agency’s grantees, nor the staff appear to have received any forewarning or opportunity for consultation prior to the implementation of an administrative leave order,” the board’s letter reads.

Earlier this week, NEH employees were informed that almost 75% of the staff should prepare for an imminent “Reduction in Force” announcement — a government term for mass layoffs — per a union statement.

The IMLS awarded $266.7 million to museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions nationwide in 2024. The agency did not respond to an immediate request for comment.