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Juniper Leherissey, executive director for the Harwood Museum, discusses how federal funding for a future exhibit is in jeopardy due to new federal grant guidelines. Leherissey stands in the "Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected" exhibit which was funded in part by a federal grant.
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
The "Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected" exhibit as seen inside the Harwood Museum in Taos Monday (Feb. 17). The show was funded by a federal grant program that may no longer be available to institutions like Harwood.
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
The "Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected" exhibit as seen inside the Harwood Museum in Taos Monday (Feb. 17). The show was funded by a federal grant program that may no longer be available to institutions like Harwood.
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
Juniper Leherissey, executive director at Harwood Museum of Art, is concerned federal funding for a future exhibit at the museum is in jeopardy due to new federal grant guidelines.
Juniper Leherissey, executive director for the Harwood Museum, discusses how federal funding for a future exhibit is in jeopardy due to new federal grant guidelines. Leherissey stands in the "Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected" exhibit which was funded in part by a federal grant.
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
The "Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected" exhibit as seen inside the Harwood Museum in Taos Monday (Feb. 17). The show was funded by a federal grant program that may no longer be available to institutions like Harwood.
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
The "Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected" exhibit as seen inside the Harwood Museum in Taos Monday (Feb. 17). The show was funded by a federal grant program that may no longer be available to institutions like Harwood.
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News
"Compasión," mixed media consisting of hand-carved wood with natural and acrylic pigments by Nicholas Herrera, as seen in the Harwood Museum Monday (Feb. 17).
DANIEL PEARSON/Taos News file photo
Juniper Leherissey, executive director at Harwood Museum of Art, is concerned federal funding for a future exhibit at the museum is in jeopardy due to new federal grant guidelines.
Taos artists and art institutions may struggle even more to make a living amid the new presidential administration's controversial federal grant application rules.
Harwood Museum of Art Executive Director Juniper Leherissey said the new guidelines sideline the University of New Mexico Museum's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the arts, leaving it vulnerable to funding cuts. In accordance with Trump's Jan. 29 "Celebrating America's 250th Birthday" executive order, grants issued by the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts can no longer fund any project or program promulgating "diversity, equity and inclusion."
"It feels like censorship," Leherissey said Monday (Feb. 17) as she walked through the Harwood's exhibition spaces. A current show, "Luchita Hurtado: Earth and Sky Interjected," was half-funded through a $30,000 NEA grant.
"In order to get that resource, we have to modify our value system. That's censorship," she said, adding UNM has signaled nothing about the museum's mission changing.
A grant application to help fund a $650,000 show long planned for 2026 about adobe culture, "Unearthing Futures," was completely scuttled. All NEA grant applications must now conform to President Donald Trump's directive for a national celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.
One of 26 executive orders signed by Trump on his first day in office stated, "It is the policy of the United States, and a purpose of this order, to provide a grand celebration worthy of the momentous occasion of the 250th anniversary of American Independence on July 4, 2026. It is also the purpose of this order to take other actions to honor the history of our great Nation."
As of last week, all NEA-funded art grant applications must be on that theme.
"As soon as we got the notice — we're basically pulling that particular grant application and revising it so that everything has to be to do with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — or 'priority will be given to?' What does that mean?" Leherissey said, "It's everything that we do, everything that's focused on diversity, on pre-colonial conversations, of decolonizing the museum. It's basically re-elevating the culture wars."
Leherissey likened the Trump administration's directives to the blow struck to NEA funding in 1990 in the wake of artist Andre Serranos' "Piss Christ" and the cancelled Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Both were federally funded. Both were deemed obscene — religiously offensive, and homoerotic and degenerate, respectively — by conservative members of Congress at the time.
"Congress reacted to the controversy by inserting an amendment into the NEA's 1990 reauthorization bill," according to a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court opinion summary. "The amendment … directs the Chairperson to ensure that artistic excellence and artistic merit are the criteria by which [grant] applications are judged, taking into consideration general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public."
The late-'80s culture war ultimately resulted in less federal funding directly for art and artists.
Even without the relatively small amount of federal funds it receives, the Harwood will survive, Leherissey said. The museum has a total of around $150,000 in federal funds in play right now, for example, some of which are partially used to pay salaries. But she cautioned that UNM and any other institutions that support DEI will suffer under the new funding guidelines.
"The larger impact I see is being part of the university, the state of New Mexico," she said. "UNM, as a Hispanic-serving institution, they support diversity [and] equity work; they have huge, grant-supported research. All that gets affected. We only get a small percentage of our funding from UNM. However, if they're trying to fill the rest of the pie to figure out how to fund the university and all this federal money is basically threatened — because our president of UNM and leaders still want to uphold the values we've set up to pursue — a big area of funding will be cut.
"There's a lot of impacts there," Leherissey added. "Are they going to pull back the money that I have for projects?
There's a good case to be made that it's a violation of the 1st Amendment for Trump to dictate the theme of any taxpayer-funded arts activities. Hopefully lawsuits are being prepared already.
All institutions need to do to circumvent this ridiculous mandate is to not use the wording, ""diversity, equity and inclusion." They will then invite artists of diversity to apply and show their work.
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There's a good case to be made that it's a violation of the 1st Amendment for Trump to dictate the theme of any taxpayer-funded arts activities. Hopefully lawsuits are being prepared already.
All institutions need to do to circumvent this ridiculous mandate is to not use the wording, ""diversity, equity and inclusion." They will then invite artists of diversity to apply and show their work.
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