Arts and cultural programming is facing funding headwinds, across the country and here in our community.
Just last week, Orange County suspended its grants to support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the arts. The county cited an “abundance of caution” and a concern that these grants may jeopardize other arts funding. The committees governing these grants were also suspended indefinitely.
But what do these changes look like on the ground?
Nicole Warren is founder and executive director of Chance2Dance. She describes it as Central Florida’s only wholly inclusive and accommodative dance organization, and the state’s first sensory-friendly dance studio.
She and her staff of special-needs certified instructors currently serve 1,400 dancers with many different disabilities. Warren also served on the county’s DEI grant committee.
She talked about her experience of staying on mission while taking financial hits, including the one that came when Governor Ron DeSantis stripped $32 million in arts and cultural funding from the 2025 state budget.
The direct cost for Warren? “That was a $50,000 operational cut that affects how we operate on a daily basis. That's the people who are highly certified coming in here to work with somebody who has high needs.”
And then last week, Orange County suspended $200,000 in grants, half of which were meant to boost arts projects centered on diversity, arts, and culture. The other $100,000 grants were focused on sustainability.
From that pool, Warren had a $15,000 grant partnership for a project with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra that would have, in part, highlighted famous and successful musicians with disabilities. That program is now canceled.
As for her role on the grant committee (she recused herself from her own grant application), she was disappointed to see it go. “We just had barely gotten started with DEI and sustainability support through grants through Orange County. We only got through one pilot year before it was kind of, you know, the rug was pulled from underneath your feet. So, any initiatives or projects that were started, cannot continue,” she said. “Everybody either has to shut their programs down or find a new funding source.”
She says the financial hits won’t change her work, but they’re an added worry in the already economically unpredictable world of nonprofit arts organizations. “You never feel secure, as it is. What I hope is that our community steps up and recognizes the definite impact.”
Still, Warren said she’ll fight for her organization’s mission, “and our entire mission and mantra since the day we were founded, has been on inclusion. My staff and I are boots on the ground. We are working with individuals who are underserved, who have sincere needs on a daily basis.”
“I see myself as a voice for the voiceless,” she added. “My dancers cannot always speak for themselves. Advocate for themselves. They may not even be aware of what's going on politically or economically. But I am hyper aware, and I know how it's affecting my direct funds. I know how it's directly affecting my organization. If I submit to what's going on, then who do we have to help others in need? I believe in what I'm fighting for.”
