An update on Journey Arts’ NEA funding
You may have seen the headlines about the National Endowment for the Arts ending grants to arts nonprofits. We write today, frustrated and sad, to share that Journey Arts' grant from the NEA for our upcoming project, Miwa, featuring Talie Cerin and Lunise Cerin, was also terminated.
Eliminating funding for the arts makes it that much harder to tell artist’s stories. But trying to silence all of our voices will only have the opposite effect. We are convinced, now more than ever, that telling these stories -- through music, poetry, and dance -- is one of the best ways to find connection to each other. And Miwa will still go on, premiering in November 2025, and welcoming you into a series of impactful images, sounds, and ideas.
Maybe you've seen something at Journey Arts that's opened a window into a new world. Maybe you've seen something at Journey Arts that's made you realize something about yourself. Or maybe you've been moved by the intimacy, the joy, and the empathy that blossoms when you've been among the artists and audiences coming together to really hear one another.
This work matters more than ever. The arts need to keep amplifying each other's stories -- keep creating work that demands attention and spotlights the realities of our world.
And now is the moment to help.
You can tell your elected officials that cancelling NEA grants harms our whole community.
You can support one of the myriad organizations who have lost funding this week.
But we have to tell these stories. A dark stage and silent voices is not the world we all envision and want to live in -- and not an option for any of us.
Let's keep creating together,
Carly, Marla, and the Journey Arts staff and Board