The Museum of the African Diaspora faces a significant financial setback with the termination of grants worth at least $736,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The terminated funding, some of which was approved during the Biden administration, supported two of the museum’s core programs: the Emerging Artists Program, which provides exhibition opportunities and professional development for local Black artists, and MoAD in the Classroom, an award-winning arts education initiative serving schools throughout the Bay Area.
Since 2015, MoAD has received $1.9 million in grants from IMLS.
In a letter to museum supporters, MoAD CEO and Executive Director Monetta White said the termination “threatens far more than our budget — it threatens our mission, our impact, and the communities we serve.”
MoAD learned of the cuts via an official notice from IMLS, dated April 8 and signed by acting Director Keith Sonderling. It cites alignment with “the agency’s updated priorities” and “the President’s Executive Order 14238, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” as reasons for the termination. The notice further states that the grants are “no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serve the interest of the United States.”
White countered in an email a press release: “We categorically refuse that these programs, which testify to our shared, complex, and ever-evolving history, ‘no longer serve the interest of the United States.'”
The SoMa museum serves as a platform for Black artists and provides educational resources for disadvantaged schools. The museum has not announced plans for addressing the funding gap but emphasized its commitment to continuing its mission.
The cancellation of the grants comes amid broader funding shifts initiated by the Trump administration targeting federal arts and cultural institutions.
The Museum of the African Diaspora, established in 2005, has been recognized as a cultural cornerstone in San Francisco, dedicated to celebrating Black art, history, and culture. Last fall, the museum launched its inaugural Nexus SF/Bay Area Black Art Week.
The museum is urging supporters to write to Congress to ask that the executive order inspiring the cuts be reversed.