A series of National Endowment of the Arts cuts have impacted the arts nationwide since May 2025. Amid funding uncertainty, Ithaca College theater students and faculty have not been discouraged, and Ithaca remains a vibrant oasis for art, music and culture.
On May 15, The Ithacan published an article highlighting the termination of grants awarded to The Cherry Arts and Civic Ensemble. This was not a standalone situation. It was one of a series of NEA grant cancellations imposed by the current administration. The future of funding for the arts remains uncertain as cuts continue. NPR reported Aug. 26 that the NEA has canceled a $50,000 creative-writing fellowship grant that has been awarded annually since 1966.
Senior Eislinn Gracen, an acting major, wrote the play “Guns in Dragonland,” which was selected to be performed at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Although Gracen was not able to attend the festival herself, a group of 18 IC students produced and performed “Guns in Dragonland“ at the festival in August.
The group received about $10,000 in scholarships and donations from the Office of the President and the Los Angeles Theatre Initiative, and raised $4,000 fundraising for the trip. Her genre-blending play explores children’s experiences with gun violence in the United States.
“Thankfully, Ithaca is so supportive of our cause that we didn’t necessarily have to worry about people not being on board with it, or people trying to censor us or protest us here,” Gracen said. “But I feel like if I did this in my hometown of Orlando, there would be some more pushback.”
One option for students to enter the professional theater world is the Lab Company Performance Fellows Program at the Hangar Theatre, where fellows spend four to six weeks performing in the mainstage show series and the kids show series. Shirley Serotsky, the producing artistic director of the Hangar Theatre, said that a benefit of being so close to Ithaca College is the pool of student and faculty talent that they can take advantage of.
Senior Megan Bush, a musical theater major, was a part of the program this past summer. She was in the ensemble for the Hangar Theatre’s mainstage production of “Waitress,” as well as the kids show, “Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience.”
She said the experience greatly prepared her and made her more confident to enter the professional theater world. As a fellow, she was compensated, provided housing and reimbursed for travel. She said she really felt the support of the community as she was performing for sold-out audiences.
“I think despite cutting funding, we [as artists] know we still want to use our voices, and we still persevere,” Bush said. “We are here; we’re going to tell the stories we want to.”
Bush said she felt that the college encourages students to use their voices to express the kind of work they want to do as performers.
“Ithaca College does a good job of giving us the power to understand who we are as artists,” Bush said.
Gracen said that her education at the college greatly inspired her during the process of writing.
“The acting curriculum is laid out in a way where we have to learn about all facets of theater,” Gracen said. “And I’m really grateful for that.”
Graduate student Sylvie Froncek, who is pursuing her MBA at the college, is the producer and director of “The Wedding Show,” an immersive and interactive comedy show that is based around a queer wedding. Froncek also utilized the talent overflowing from IC, casting many students and bringing faculty and alumni onto the creative team.
“Ithaca … generally, has a pretty flourishing queer community and has been really receptive to the show,” Froncek said. “[The queer] population here, I think, is a great resource to be able to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from and bring into the show.”
Froncek said that the show is continuing to normalize queer love and marriage and provides a safe place for the queer community.
Theater innovation can start from inside the college and become something even bigger. Courtney Young Socher, a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance Performance, along with Gavin Mayer, associate dean and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance Performance, co-produced and directed the Finger Lakes New Works Festival for the first time this past summer.
Young Socher said the idea was born out of her observation of the common struggle of getting new, original musicals produced. She said other festivals are usually overflown with submissions, and it can be difficult to draw attention to new works. Instead of being a competition, the festival aims to bring people to the area to see original theater. Mayer received a Faculty Summer Grant which helped to provide a stipend for the performers and stage, Young Socher said via email.
“In this town, there are so many great resources for theater and it’s a phenomenal area to draw an audience to,” Young Socher said.
Ithaca was ranked No.1 on CNN’s Best Towns to Visit in America in 2025. The city was praised for its beautiful natural scenery and eclectic dining options, as well as for the enthusiasm and energy that Cornell University and Ithaca College bring to it. Last year, Ithaca was ranked No. 2 for most arts vibrant medium sized communities in the country, according to the SMU DataArts Arts Vibrancy Index.
Sam Buggeln, the director of The Cherry Arts, was directly affected by the grant withdrawal in May. He said that although they have had to cut back on some initiatives because of limited funding, they are still able to bring a plethora of theater to their audiences.
“We’ve been very, very honored and moved by the amount of support that’s come from the community,” Buggeln said. “That really shows that people are invested in The Cherry continuing to be able to do what we do.”
Buggeln said The Cherry received a $10,000 donation from a member of the community, as long as The Cherry could match the donation through smaller donations and fundraising efforts. He said he is seeing enthusiasm from the community amid this campaign.
Young Socher said that while it is a challenging time for the arts, Ithaca stays committed to telling people’s stories.
“We are a place where people care and people value human beings for who they are, and our arts in this town support that,” Young Socher said.
