The Des Moines Art Center and Waterloo Center for the Arts collaborated to bring a culturally significant exhibit featuring Haitian art to Central Iowa. Then, federal grant funding was pulled. The groups were able to color outside the lines and find a funding solution, illustrating how Iowa’s arts and culture organizations are managing federal policy changes.

Since the start of the year, the Department of Government Efficiency has slashed spending and fired thousands of workers. The federal government typically employs about 22,000 workers in Iowa or 1.4% of the workforce. It is unclear how many federal workers in Iowa have lost their jobs this year, but there have been firings at agencies like the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames and AmeriCorps.

Grant funding cuts were made as part of a DOGE initiative to reduce federal spending. In early April, arts and culture organizations across the country began receiving emails saying grant funds were cut for the current fiscal year, affecting thousands of projects and programs.

Statewide agencies like Humanities Iowa have had to tell the small arts organizations it serves that funding for current exhibits and projects is gone.

President Donald Trump’s 2026 Discretionary Budget recommendations issued on May 2 made the funding and agency cuts more formal, calling for the complete elimination of federal funding for several agencies, including National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Institute of Museum and Library Services and more.

These changes have left arts groups scrambling for ways to fill funding gaps left by canceled grants that would have reimbursed them for money already spent. Some of the smaller groups are unsure of their future.

Coping with the cuts
One of the more than 1,200 NEH grants canceled in April was an $11,275 allotment to the Des Moines Art Center for its exhibit “Light Within Ourselves,” the result of the collaboration with the Waterloo Center for the Arts. The exhibit runs until Sept. 7.

“Light Within Ourselves” offers a sampling of what can be found at the Waterloo Center for the Arts, which has the largest collection of Haitian art in the United States. The Des Moines Art Center worked with the Waterloo center to bring 15 pieces of its 2,000-piece collection to the capital city.

Kelly Baum, John and Mary Pappajohn Director and CEO of the Des Moines Art Center, said she wanted to introduce the Waterloo collection to residents in Central Iowa.

“I’m reminded every day, and this fills me with a sense of purpose: This is the only art museum in the capital city of the state and one of the few art museums in the entire state,” Baum said. “We provide opportunities that no other institution in the city within a two-hour radius can provide. We might be the first and only place where residents of this region encounter art. We might be the only opportunity for residents of the area to travel imaginatively to different places, different countries.”

Funding loss leads to strong support
The grant to help pay for the exhibit and associated programming originated with the NEH and was to be distributed by the State Historical Society. When the grant was canceled, the Des Moines Art Center decided to continue with the exhibit, Baum said.

“We are going to carry on. We’re going to absorb the cost and make sure that the exhibition and the majority of the programs go on,” Baum said.

Baum said the Des Moines Art Center was able to maneuver the situation because of support from an endowment trust that covers about 55% of its budget, as well as strong support from donors and the business community.

“It’s really those smaller organizations and institutions that are going to be more profoundly affected by cuts to the NEH and IMLS,” she said. “We have an endowment and have the support of donors and corporate founders who helped make up the difference.”

Baum, who started her position in 2023, said one of the reasons why she accepted the Des Moines offer was because of the board of trustees’ commitment to the Art Center.

“I could tell from our discussions that they have the best interests of the Art Center at heart, but also fundamentally, the best interests of the city. They do what they do for the Art Center because they love Des Moines and because they want the best for Des Moines. They know that any great city really needs and deserves a great art museum, and so they are all working hard to protect the Art Center and also to protect the city and those institutions,” Baum said.

Baum and other Art Center leaders are looking ahead to sources of future funding for projects and exhibits. They had planned on applying to the IMLS for historical preservation funding.

“In the works were plans to apply for a grant to help us preserve our institutional archives, which are also the archives of the city of Des Moines and its people, its citizens, its residents,” she said. “Those are the kinds of projects that are challenging to fundraise. There are not many options for archival preservation, historic preservation, accessibility. We were thrilled to know that the IMLS was going to be there for us. The cuts to the IMLS will definitely have an impact, and we will pivot.”

Baum said there are ways the business community can support arts and cultural organizations during this time.

“I think that now is the time to have a conversation with elected officials,” she said. “It’s really up to every individual person, and this includes leaders in the business community, to decide what they believe and what’s right for them, what their values are and what kind of city, what kind of state they want to live in. And they might have access to individuals and offices that leaders of cultural organizations don’t.”

Business leaders can also help the community connect the dots between arts and cultural organizations and the impact they have on Central Iowa.

“It’s really helping others see what’s happening in D.C., and cuts to federal agencies are going to have a kickback effect on the state,” Baum said.

Smaller institutions affected
Smaller arts organizations work with limited budgets and losing grant reimbursement could hinder their ability to operate.

“The culture of Iowa is so rich and diverse and beautiful, but it was already kind of hanging on by a thread,” Baum said. “The budgets that they’re working with are so small, and some of the organizations might be supported by a staff of one or two, or a staff of one and a few volunteers. There wasn’t much meat on the bone to begin with in terms of staff, operational support. … For smaller organizations, grants from these larger federal agencies make up a larger percentage of their budget. They do really beautiful and important work, and it’s cultural activity that is rooted in the local [community] and it matters so much to those communities.”

Iowa’s designated humanities council Humanities Iowa, based in Ames, works with museums, art centers, nonprofits, communities and artists to help make projects and initiatives a reality. On April 2, Humanities Iowa was notified its funding had been terminated, effective immediately. All Humanities Iowa programs and grants are on pause.

The organization’s programming reaches 250,000 Iowans annually, in every part of the state, Heather Plucar, executive director of Humanities Iowa, said in an email. Examples of Humanities Iowa programming includes family and literacy programs, veterans programs, funding for rural libraries, museums and historical societies, book festivals and more.

The federal funding cuts ended existing grants and congressionally appropriated funds for fiscal year 2025, affecting programs that were already in motion. Some of those programs were already paid for by small libraries and museums that were counting on reimbursement from grant funding. A total dollar amount for Humanities Iowa’s 2025 revoked grant funding is so far unclear. The group granted $71,650 in grant funding in 2023.

Plucar said to help Humanities Iowa, the community can “visit [the website Save the NEH and send a clear message to state and federal legislators. Humanities councils are the most direct and concrete way for federal dollars to reach local constituents and institutions.”

Baum said federal funding cuts could affect thousands of jobs in Iowa. As of 2022, more than 20,795 Iowans work in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, according to the Iowa Economic Development and Iowa Finance Authority.

“Arts and culture in Iowa employ thousands of people. We generate millions of dollars of economic gain. We spend money in the state,” Baum said. “Arts and culture is also a magnet for people who are moving to the state. We are important. We’re part of a larger statewide ecosystem, and we deserve to be protected and represented and advocated for, just like health, well-being, agriculture and more.”