The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) could lose all its federal funding on 1 October if US President Donald Trump's proposed federal budget for 2026 is adopted. The only four-year school dedicated to contemporary Indigenous arts, the institution relies on federal funding for 75% of its operational costs, and received $13m in the prior two fiscal years, according to a statement shared with Hyperallergic by IAIA president Robert Martin, a member of the Cherokee Nation.
“In one budget, nearly 63 years of progress in Indigenous higher education and artistic expression is at risk,” Martin told Hyperallergic. “We are the only institution of our kind in the world, and our mission is more vital than ever.”
The IAIA currently enrolls around 850 students from 92 federally recognised tribes, most of whom come from rural reservations. Founded in 1962, IAIA is considered the “birthplace of contemporary Indigenous art” and started its life as a high school on the Santa Fe Indian School campus, a federal boarding school established in New Mexico in the late 1800s in order to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children.
In the early 1970s, the IAIA opened its contemporary art museum, now considered a pioneering move in championing the work of Indigenous artists. The school began offering four-year degrees in 2001, and now confers Bachelors degrees in visual, literary and performing arts disciplines alongside Masters of Fine Arts degrees and certificates in broadcast journalism.
“Our campus is a living laboratory where Pueblo potters test 3D printers, Cherokee coders build virtual-reality worlds and Sámi composers score films for Sundance,” Martin said. “More than 4,000 graduates have carried forward our cultures, stories and leadership—this is what’s at stake.”
In a statement to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for the IAIA said that while the school does receive private donations and grants, all of those funds are directed towards scholarship opportunities for students.
The Trump administration has proposed cutting more than $500m in funding from the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), the main financial supporter for the 37 Tribal colleges in the United States, of which IAIA is one. Trump’s proposed pool for BIE funding is $22.1m, down from the approximately $127.4 million in funds it dispensed last year. ProPublica released findings last year that Congress was underfunding tribal colleges by a around $250m per year.
Martin called for lawmakers to defend the future of IAIA, declaring in his statement: “Defunding IAIA will not balance the ledger or advance unity. It will silence voices this country desperately needs to hear, voices that sing in Lakota, paint in Diné and write about what it means to belong to the First Peoples of this land.”
