Mary Anne Carter, who led the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) during Donald Trump’s first term as US president and has been serving as acting chair since he returned to office, has been confirmed as the NEA’s new chairman by the US senate. She succeeds Joe Biden’s NEA chair, Maria Rosario Jackson, who resigned the day Trump returned to power.
“I am committed to advancing the vision that the arts belong to all Americans, no matter who they are or where they live,” Carter said in a statement. “The arts are essential to creating, innovating, healing and recovery, and they provide vital economic stability to communities across the nation. I look forward to the many celebrations that will take place in 2026 in honour of America’s 250th anniversary, as well as to the agency’s continued research into the powerful role the arts play in healing—from illness to trauma to natural disasters.”
Prior to being selected by Trump to lead the agency in 2018 (succeeding Barack Obama’s appointee, visual artist Jane Chu), Carter had been involved in expanding the NEA’s Creative Forces initiative, which provides art therapy for US service members and veterans. She also worked to strengthen other NEA projects, like the Shakespeare in American Communities theatre programme. Carter came to the NEA with no significant prior experience in the arts, having previously served as a staffer to Rick Scott, the former governor of Florida, specialising in budget and policy issues. She also served as a director of US senate relations for the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank.
“Mary Anne brings a deep understanding of the arts ecosystem and a commitment to public service and cultural stewardship,” Erin Harkey, the chief executive of Americans for the Arts, said in a statement. “The NEA is essential to our nation, reaching every corner of America by supporting programs—from rural arts initiatives and veterans’ healing programmes to youth education, local festivals and the preservation of our cultural heritage. We look forward to chairman Carter’s steady, thoughtful leadership guiding this vital agency into its next chapter.”
As he had in his first term, since returning to power president Trump has proposed eliminating the NEA. The agency’s staff numbers were also significantly reduced by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which also cancelled and rescinded NEA grant programmes that had already been approved. In September, a federal judge ruled that a new NEA policy of reviewing grant applications to make sure they comply with Trump’s executive order seeking to ban “gender ideology” from agencies, organisations and programmes that receive federal funding violates the US constitution.
Meanwhile, the NEA will reportedly devote upwards of $17m of its funding toward Trump’s sculpture park project, the “Garden of American Heroes”. Earlier this week the agency announced it will give a total of $1.25m in grants to 50 organisations working on projects related to the sculpture park, many of them for commissioning poetry and theatrical or musical performances.
