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In one of the first signs of collective pushback to the Trump administration\u2019s arts initiatives, several hundred American artists are calling on the National Endowment for the Arts to roll back restrictions<\/a> on grants to institutions with programming that promotes diversity or \u201cgender ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the 463 writers, poets, dancers, visual artists and others who signed the letter are the Pulitzer-winning playwrights Jackie Sibblies Drury, Lynn Nottage and Paula Vogel. There is also one name with striking historical resonance: Holly Hughes, a performance artist who in 1990 was one of the so-called N.E.A. Four<\/a>, denied funding by the agency because of concern from conservative critics at the height of that era\u2019s culture wars.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some ways this just feels like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again,\u201d Ms. Hughes, now a professor of art and design at the University of Michigan, said in a telephone interview. \u201cThese funding restrictions are a good barometer for who is the easy punching bag in American culture at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n The artists on Tuesday sent a letter to the N.E.A. objecting to new requirements<\/a> for grant applicants that the organization put in place this month to comply with executive orders signed by President Trump. One of the requirements is that applicants \u201cnot operate any programs promoting \u2018diversity, equity, and inclusion\u2019 that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws\u201d; the other is that federal funds not be used \u201cto promote gender ideology,\u201d referring to an executive order, prompted by Mr. Trump\u2019s concern about public policy toward transgender people, that declares that American policy is \u201cto recognize two sexes, male and female.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The artists\u2019 letter asks the N.E.A. to \u201creverse\u201d the changes, saying \u201cabandoning our values is wrong, and it won\u2019t protect us. Obedience in advance only feeds authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump and his enablers may use doublespeak to claim that support for artists of color amounts to \u2018discrimination\u2019 and that funding the work of trans and women artists promotes \u2018gender ideology\u2019 (whatever that is),\u201d the letter adds. \u201cBut we know better: the arts are for and represent everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter was sent to 26 N.E.A. officials on Tuesday morning; the agency has not yet commented.<\/p>\n The letter-writing effort was spearheaded by Annie Dorsen, a writer and theater director \u2014 and a recent law school graduate \u2014 who was a recipient of a so-called genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2019<\/a>. \u201cI felt it was important in this moment to signal to the N.E.A. and to anyone else paying attention that artists were aware of what was happening and not staying silent,\u201d Ms. Dorsen said.<\/p>\n The changes at the N.E.A. are occurring at the same time that Mr. Trump has assumed control<\/a> of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He replaced numerous board members, and the new board appointed him as the center\u2019s chairman; several staffers have been ousted, and some artists have resigned from positions<\/a> there or canceled appearances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Some programming has also been canceled, including a touring production of a musical for young audiences, \u201cFinn,\u201d about a gray shark who wishes to be a glittery fish. The show\u2019s creators believe the tour was canceled because the show\u2019s message of self-acceptance was deemed problematic during the Trump era, but Kennedy Center officials say there was not sufficient interest in the tour from presenters around the country to make it financially viable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n