Museums across the United States have long served as pillars of culture, education, and community. These trusted institutions now face unprecedented threats from executive actions that jeopardize their ability to serve the American public. The very foundation of our nation’s cultural heritage is at risk, threatening not only the institutions themselves but also the communities that rely on them.

Over the past several weeks, cultural institutions in the United States have endured the impact of executive actions that fundamentally weaken institutions’ ability to realize their missions in service to the American public. Recent actions include gutting the major federal agency supporting museums — the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — as well as ceasing grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which supports museums as well as a wide range of other cultural and educational programming. A similar fate is anticipated for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The current administration’s directives also undermine the ability of museums to reflect the communities in which they serve. These actions will undercut and nullify museums’ capacities to support free expression and the accurate depiction of history. And yet, we know that museums are among the most trusted institutions in the country — integral to our cultural heritage, healthy economies, civic well-being, inspired learning, and personal enrichment. Federal support of museums — both financially and in their affirmation of programming based on merit and free from censorship — is essential. In short, museums matter.

Among recent executive actions is the proposed near elimination of IMLS, which is a Congressionally authorized agency. However, the Executive Order slashing its grant budget and placing agency personnel on administrative leave — both of which have already taken place — signals the effective demise of IMLS. It is worth looking back at the authorization that created this agency and the other federal agencies supporting the arts and humanities. The authorizing language in 1965 for the creation of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities noted “that the practice of art and the study of the humanities requires constant dedication and devotion and that, while no government can call a great artist or scholar into existence, it is necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to help create and sustain not only a climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry, but also the material conditions facilitating the release of this creative talent.” It went on to recognize “that the world leadership which has come to the United States cannot rest solely upon superior power, wealth, and technology, but must be solidly founded upon worldwide respect and admiration for the Nation’s high qualities as a leader in the realm of ideas and of the spirit.”

IMLS, an outgrowth of this original legislation, was established by the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) in 1996, combining the Institute of Museum Services, which had been in existence since 1976, and the Library Programs Office, which had been part of the Office of Education under various names since 1937. The NEH and NEA have been reauthorized throughout their history by both Republican and Democratic Administrations, and every Congress has approved funding for all three agencies every year since then.

The total annual budget for IMLS’s Museum Services Program is $55.5 million. The total IMLS budget makes up a minuscule 0.00046% of the federal budget. And yet this funding is critical to American museums in every state across the country, “blue” and “red,” urban and rural. For our institutions and many others, these grants typically fund specific activities — from learning programs for teachers and students, to exhibitions and care of collections. Beyond the dollars themselves, IMLS grants serve as a “badge of honor” as the program is extremely competitive and every grant is reviewed and ranked by a peer panel of other museum professionals. IMLS grants help stimulate private support and enable museums to launch new and innovative initiatives that they might not undertake without this critical seed funding.

Art and culture feed our souls, inspire joy, remind us of our humanity, and help us transcend the everyday — to access that “spirit” of our nation’s “high qualities” which the agency’s founding legislation so poignantly highlighted. History teaches and guides, propels our progress, and points us to a brighter future. And, yes, art, culture, and history may be uncomfortable, may challenge and even offend — as is permitted and 

codified in the First Amendment. Cultural expression can also be a call to action and can serve as the expression of a movement, both of which we urgently need right now.

Museums are places to connect people, to offer shared experiences and connections, to knit together our social fabric, and to preserve stories — both uplifting and calling us to our better selves. Museums are the civic institutions that we need to urgently defend.

We recognize that at this moment there are many issues and causes that demand defense and action. Supporting museums is perhaps a cause that can also bring pleasure and solace in challenging times — as well as cultivate courage and resilience among our audiences. We ask that you join us in writing or calling your member of Congress and urging restoration of IMLS. We also invite you to visit our museums and become a member, if you’re able. As the founding legislation for these agencies boldly stated, “democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens,” and the arts and humanities — and the museums that steward them in a democracy — matter more than ever.

In community,

S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director, San José Museum of Art

Christopher Bedford, Helen and Charles Schwab Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF)

Lori Fogarty, Director and CEO, Oakland Museum of California (OMCA)

Lial A. Jones, Director and CEO, Crocker Art Museum

Soyoung Lee, The Barbara Bass Bakar Director and CEO, Asian Art Museum

Veronica Roberts, John and Jill Freidenrich Director, Cantor Arts Center

Julie Rodrigues Widholm, Executive Director, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)

Monetta White, Executive Director and CEO, Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)