The National Endowment for the Humanities announced on Thursday a grant program to support President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes, the first concrete step toward realizing one of his central priorities for the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The garden, which was announced during Mr. Trump’s first term, will feature life-size renderings of “250 great individuals from America’s past who have contributed to our cultural, scientific and political heritage,” according to a news release. The endowment is now requesting “preliminary concepts” for individual statues from artists who must be American citizens; those who are selected will receive awards of up to $200,000 per statue, which must be made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass.
All submissions must depict figures from a long, eclectic list issued in a previous executive order, which included traditional heroes like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Sacagawea, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright brothers alongside figures like Walt Whitman, Kobe Bryant, Julia Child, Johnny Cash and Hannah Arendt. Mr. Trump has also directed that subjects be depicted in a “realistic” manner, with no modernist or abstract designs allowed.
While no site for the garden has been determined, it will be “a public space where Americans can gather to learn about and honor American heroes,” the release said. According to an earlier executive order, responsibility for setting the final list of 250 people lies with Vince Haley, the chair of the president’s Domestic Policy Council, who is also overseeing broader White House efforts related to the 250th anniversary.
The agency’s release confirmed earlier reports that the program would be paid for in part with $34 million committed jointly by the N.E.H. and the National Endowment for the Arts, each of which had a budget of roughly $207 million last year.
The announcement came weeks after a major shake-up at the humanities endowment, which is currently led by Michael McDonald, a longtime employee who became interim director after the previous director, Shelly Lowe, left at Mr. Trump’s direction.
Following visits from employees of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the endowment laid off nearly two-thirds of its staff of about 180 and canceled most existing grants, which had supported museums, historical sites and community projects across the country. (The future of grants at the arts endowment remains unclear.)
The moves have stirred a broad outcry among humanities advocates, who warn that they could undermine state and local programming for the nation’s 250th anniversary. It has also prompted fears that some state humanities councils, particularly in rural states without a significant private philanthropic base, would be forced to shut down entirely.
Shortly before Thursday’s announcement about the Garden of American Heroes, the National Endowment for the Humanities issued a separate update on its funding priorities, saying it seeks to “return to being a responsible steward of taxpayer funds.” All future awards, it said, will be “merit-based, awarded to projects that do not promote extreme ideologies based upon race or gender, and that help to instill an understanding of the founding principles and ideals that make America an exceptional country.”
