• The Trump administration drastically cut funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, affecting grants to arts and culture organizations nationwide.
• The Mellon Foundation provided stopgap funding to state humanities councils, but it’s insufficient to replace lost federal funds, officials said.
• Ohio Humanities and other organizations are advocating for restored NEH funding in the federal budget.

After National Endowment of Humanities canceled tens of millions of grants to arts and culture institutions around the country April 1, including $2 million in Ohio, disproportionately affecting smaller and rural institutions, officials called the cuts “heartbreaking.”

Now, humanities funds around the country could breathe a small sigh of relief after the Mellon Foundation announced in late April that it would send each state council a grant to help each of them stay afloat, but that is a fraction of the once-reliable federal funding.

Each state humanities council got $200,000 in unrestricted funding to continue operating and up to $50,000 in additional matching funds.

The stopgap in funding is helpful, but the organizations need more stable funding to continue their work, Ohio Humanities Executive Director Rebecca Asmo said in an email to The Dispatch.

“The grant from the Mellon Foundation is an important bridge in funding that will help us respond to this crisis in the short term, but it in no way can replace the consistency and amount of federal funding that has been available to support communities throughout Ohio for the past 50+ years,” Asmo said.

Ohio Humanities moved up its annual fundraising campaign to help make the match and is about halfway to the goal a month after the initial grant announcement, Asmo said. But more funding is needed.

“The NEH contract termination abruptly eliminated $900,000 worth of funding that was anticipated between March 14 and Sept. 30, 2025, so while the Mellon funds are an important bridge, there is still much that is lost and much more we need to work to raise beyond the match,” Asmo said.

Although discourse about President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has focused on proposed cuts to Medicaid and boosting national debt by $2.8 trillion over the next decade, it also omits future funding for cultural institutions, including the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Asmo said the organization is working to advocate for NEH funding in the federal budget, which barely passed the House and has an uphill battle in the Senate.

The NEH distributes funding around the country through state humanities councils, which were established in the early 1970s to facilitate more even distribution of grants around the country.

The Federation of State Humanities Councils and Oregon’s council also sued the Trump administration in mid-May. Although Ohio is not part of the lawsuit, Asmo said Ohio Humanities is paying close attention to the proceedings.  

And although the National Endowment for the Humanities announced several new projects, including $260,000 to three in Ohio, this does not restore funding for the other projects with canceled funding.

“While we are encouraged to see NEH distributing grant funding, we are confused as to why these grants are being distributed when funds to state humanities councils were terminated. Over half of these grants are going to just six states — California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C.,” Asmo said.

The NEH did not respond to a request for comment June 6.

The organization posted a statement April 23, weeks after the initial funding cuts were announced, that said the NEH cancelled awards “at variance with agency priorities, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) and environmental justice, as well as awards that may not inspire public confidence in the use of taxpayer funds.”

Ohio Humanities distributed 19 grants totaling nearly $148,000 to organizations around central Ohio in 2024, including a local history walking tour, an oral history project documenting women in prison and a documentary series about the Hopewell Earthworks.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the western suburbs for The Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.

While Justin Fields enjoyed a brilliant run with the Ohio State Buckeyes, his time in the NFL has not been nearly as as smooth.

Fields was originally selected by the Chicago Bears with the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, but the quarterback is already on his third team, as he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers last year and signed with the New York Jets in free agency earlier this offseason.

The 26-year-old is expected to start for the Jets in 2025, but Nick Shook of NFL.com feels that this may be Fields’ last real opportunity on the professional level.

“Fields signed a two-year, $40 million deal to become the Jets’ chosen new starter in 2025, but if we look at what it might cost them to get out of said deal after the coming season, it’s clear this is a one-year tryout,” Shook wrote. “A post-June 1 trade next offseason would clear all but $3 million of his $23 million cap number in 2026, per Over The Cap. Fields must prove he’s worth keeping in 2025 because, generally speaking, it feels as if the NFL’s intrigue regarding the fifth-year pro is starting to run out.”

Fields has yet to find his footing in the league. His best season to date came with the Bears in 2023, when he made 13 starts and threw for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 61.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 86.3. Additionally, he rushed for 657 yards and four scores.

Last year, the Ohio State product made six starts for the Steelers, appearing in 10 games. During that time, he finished with 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and five picks, making good on 65.8 percent of his throws. He chipped in 289 yards while punching in five scores on the ground.

Fields definitely possesses dual-threat capabilities, but he is going to have to prove that he can consistently make throws week in and week out before anyone commits to him long term. We will see if he can do that with the Jets next fall.

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