Why Public Arts Funding Matters—Even If You’ve Never Thought About It

Arts funding doesn’t make headlines—until it disappears. This spring, the NEA Big Read quietly lost its funding. For those of us who’ve built programming around it, including The House on Mango Street, that cut is more than administrative. It means a nationally supported platform for diverse books and community conversation just lost its legs.

At Ballet 5:8, we don’t create work because it checks a box. We choose projects like The House on Mango Street Ballet because they speak to real people in real neighborhoods—many of whom have never seen their culture or language reflected on a ballet stage. Public funding helps us deepen that connection. It allows us to host bilingual book discussions, writing workshops, and performances that reach far beyond traditional audiences.

Darissy Matais, Company Apprentice from Puerto Rico

When people hear “representation,” some worry the art will suffer. But honest storytelling is never a compromise. It’s an expansion. Ballet thrives when it opens up, not when it retreats into tradition for its own sake.

The loss of the Big Read program is a reminder: this work doesn’t sustain itself by goodwill alone. It needs committed people, thoughtful investment, and support from those who believe the arts belong to everyone.

If you’ve seen what this kind of work can do—how it brings people together, challenges assumptions, and opens new doors—you know it’s worth protecting.