Sundance Institute vigorously supports the National Endowment for the Arts, and calls upon our country's leadership to do the same. NEA support played a crucial role in launching Sundance Institute in 1981 and has helped thousands of museums, arts programs and organizations. The NEA plays a critical role in building a culture that values artists and understands the important economic benefits of investing in the arts. Defunding the Endowment undermines our national artistic heritage, and handicaps our future potential.
LETTER:
The NEA must not only survive, but thrive.
In 1981, the National Endowment for the Arts helped jump-start a new creative idea in the mountains of Utah, with a seed grant for the first Sundance Institute Lab, where independent filmmakers developed new work. These artists were telling risk-taking and human stories, making the sort of films the commercial mainstream did not recognize or value, and they had few opportunities for creative support.
That first investment from the NEA led to the launch of the Sundance Film Festival a few years later, which in turn helped create an independent film movement in America including the birth of a vibrant business sector that brings these films to theaters and home screens around the world. Our Festival, now a core part of our nonprofit work, brings tens of thousands of visitors and important revenue to the State of Utah, including a cumulative gross domestic product of nearly $400 million and more than 7,000 jobs over the past five years alone - providing further evidence that the arts can be an economic driver, putting people to work and filling local government coffers.[1]
For more than three decades since that transformative first investment in Sundance, the NEA has provided enduring support for our programs as they've deepened to include theatre, documentary, virtual reality, and more for artists from all 50 states and dozens of countries globally. Independent artists need support outside the commercial marketplace, and their diverse views and creative work provide perspectives to our culture and economy that are far too valuable to de-fund.
The proposed cuts to the NEA's budget would gut our nation's ability to support and nurture artists and arts programs and deprive citizens both culturally and economically. In order to keep pace in a global world, we need to invite new voices to the table, offer future generations a chance to create, and celebrate our cultural heritage together.
In the 2016 fiscal year, the NEA cost taxpayers $148 million, or .004% of the entire Federal budget.[2] When bundled together with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, budgets total $741 million, or .016% of the entire Federal budget. This funding means thousands of grants for artists and arts organizations, across the country, in every state and Congressional district. And that investment generates returns both tangible (every dollar granted by the NEA leverages up to nine additional dollars through matching and federal-state partnerships) and cultural (allowing us to see our world and imagine our future).
We add our voices to the many other institutions and individuals who have spoken out in opposition to these cuts and in favor of continued American artistic innovation.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Redford
President and Founder, Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute Brings $143.3 Million in Economic Activity and $72.5 in Gross State Product to Utah with 2016 Sundance Film Festival. sundance.org. Published June 15, 2016.
National Endowment for the Arts Quick Facts. arts.gov. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
Bump, Philip. Trump reportedly wants to cut cultural programs that make up 0.02 percent of federal spending . Retrieved March 16, 2017.
If you'd like to join the conversation, please visit the Americans for the Arts's Action Center to send a customizable message to your elected representatives. Be sure to share on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media with #ArtsVote, #SaveTheNEA, #StandfortheArts and tag your elected officials.
Some pictures
1/6
2/6
3/6
4/6
5/6
6/6
An old letter Early grant letter from NEA
A video
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
New appointments to Screen Australia board 7 July 2026
The Albanese Labor Government has made new appointments to the Screen Australia board.
Dr Tania Chamber...
07/07/2026
The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...
07/07/2026
Berklee College of Music Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's...
07/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists train the immune system to make antibodies against numerous HIV strains Preclinical findings mark progress toward a long-sought vacc...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Open source AI has shown how quickly developers can innovate when models, data a...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Sundance Institute vigorously supports the National Endowment for the Arts, and calls upon our country's leadership to do the same. NEA support played a crucial role in launching Sundance Institute in 1981 and has helped thousands of museums, arts programs and organizations. The NEA plays a critical role in building a culture that values artists and understands the important economic benefits of investing in the arts. Defunding the Endowment undermines our national artistic heritage, and handicaps our future potential. 
