The NEA told the Sitka Fine Arts Camp that its project no longer “aligned with the priorities of the President,” which include celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and “fostering AI competency.” The camp serves roughly 800 students from 43 communities around Alaska each summer. It has received NEA funding almost every year since 2004. (KCAW file photo)
The National Endowment for the Arts notified the camp on May 2 that it was withdrawing $60,000 in funding it awarded last fall.
Camp director Roger Schmidt says the loss is not going to affect operations this summer as much as it will affect the future of the program.
“We’ve been receiving funding from the National Endowment since 2004 almost annually,” said Schmidt. “So if this is the beginning of the end, it’s going to have a really significant and continual impact on our ability toprovide high quality arts experiences to Alaska kids.”
The Sitka Fine Arts Camp opens in June. 800 elementary-, middle-, and high school students from 43 Alaskan communities and from around the country will transform the typically-quiet downtown campus into a hive of music, dance, theater, and visual arts. The camp provides $150,000 in financial aid to students, and will cover that obligation out of reserves. It will also cover instructor salaries out of reserves. For Schmidt, the bottom line is about the kids.
“We have seen that the arts and its intersection with youth is one of the most powerful ways that kids can feel like they matter, they can be heard, they can be seen, they can feel good about who they are as they form community and friends,” he said.
The camp’s funding request to the NEA is straightforward: “To support teaching artist fees in the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, a multidisciplinary arts camp for Alaskan youth.” In its termination notice, the National Endowment for the Arts stated that the camp’s project no longer aligns with the priorities of the President, which include celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, supporting the economic development of Asian-American communities, and making the District of Columbia safe and beautiful. There’s also language about disaster recovery, helping veterans, tribal communities, and “fostering AI competency.”
Schmidt says it’s not likely that the Sitka Fine Arts Camp could conform to anything on this list. For him, the unstated benefit of the camp is mental health, in an era when kids still feel the residual effects of the isolation they experienced through the pandemic.
“And we have kids coming from communities that feel like the camp is their home away from home,” said Schmidt. “It’s their lifeline. Is their favorite place on Earth. I think that’s just another way of saying it’s what makes them feel well.”
The camp also receives support from the Alaska State Council on the Arts, which itself is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additionally, Schmidt says the camp has had a higher-than-usual number of cancellations – many the children of federal workers who’ve lost their jobs and are leaving Alaska, or are otherwise unable to afford camp.
