Vermont Arts Council asks legislature to fully match federal NEA funds in FY26 budget request

Susan Evans LaFlora, executive director of the Vermont Arts Council, told the Appropriations Committee during FY26 budget testimony that the council is asking the legislature to fully match federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts so the state can draw down the full federal award.

The request matters because the council uses state and federal dollars to fund grants and services that, it says, support artists, cultural organizations and local businesses statewide. “The Vermont Art Council is the state's arts agency. We're the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Arts,” LaFlora said, and she warned that without the state match “we're really only able to fund on average about 45% of the applications that we do receive.”

Nut graf: The council said its FY24 grants totaled a little more than $3.2 million and reached artists and organizations in every Vermont county. Council leaders said a state match multiplies federal funding, meaning lost state matching dollars would leave federal money on the table and reduce grant capacity for local arts programs, cultural facilities work and recovery assistance.

LaFlora told committee members that the council receives most of its funding from the NEA and the…