On today’s show, we’re continuing our April theme of highlighting the role of the arts in times of political turmoil. As federal cuts to arts and culture programs are hitting local organizations hard, host Ali Muldrow speaks with Jessica Becker and Jen Rubin of Wisconsin Humanities. Last week the organization was notified from the National Endowment for the Humanities that all of their grant funding had been canceled. 

Becker says that their funding comes from a 53-year-old grant program that ended overnight when the Executive Director of Wisconsin Humanities received an unidentified email signed by the acting director of the NEH saying they’d been defunded.

They talk about how this presidential administration is going after programs that promote and teach critical thinking. Muldrow says that there seems to be a political appetite for defunding arts and humanities. But the guests have no confidence that the money will be diverted to do better things.

They also discuss how this devastating news will impact the organization as well as affect people across the state. Rubin says that the elimination of Wisconsin Humanities is going to impact rural communities across the state the hardest. But in a state that is ranked the worst in the nation for arts funding per capita, the loss of Wisconsin Humanities, is a loss for the state. 

Jessica Becker is the Director of Communications at Wisconsin Humanities where she manages their annual communication strategy and oversees mission-focused branding to build relationships and engagement across the state. 

Jen Rubin is the Executive Producer of Wisconsin Humanities’ statewide digital storytelling project, Love Wisconsin. Working with freelance producers from around the state, she is always looking for and helping to share new stories with our very active social media community. 

Featured image: logo of Wisconsin Humanities. 

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