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The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) recent efforts to cut back federal programs has resonated in San Antonio.
For example, Luminaria’s Yadhira Lozano pointed to grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which the Trump administration plans to cut.
Hundreds of arts groups across the country received emails notifying them of the withdrawal and termination of their grants. The notifications appeared in grantees' inboxes hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency entirely from the federal budget.
Lozano explained that Luminaria has received NEA funding for many of its past events. “The NEA is the highest level of recognition an arts organization can receive," Lozano said. "This is the nation telling you, 'you're doing amazing things, and we support you.'”
But she said this year was different for San Antonio's winners, especially when they received those emails. “There [were] about five entities in San Antonio that received it, and so on Friday, many of those organizations received an email where it talks about that their funding is being rescinded, that they do not align with the president's priorities,” she added.
NEA did not respond to requests for comment.
Lozano also said that she had noticed that when applying for grants for 2026, there were changes in information she received.
“Even when the 26th application was coming up there was messaging going out saying that if we wanted to be funded by NEA, we have to produce an event that supported America 250, and we needed to celebrate the Declaration of Independence,” Lozano said.
America 250 is the national effort to recognize the importance of the Declaration of Independence. Lozano questioned the wisdom of only funding very specific, narrow topics such as America 250.
She said she feels that Luminaria has a much broader scope than that: “We're all trying to work together, share resources and really come together to keep the arts alive, keep San Antonio beautiful. This is why people come to San Antonio, the tourists and convention goers love our city because it's beautiful, it's artistic, it's colorful, it's vibrant. We're joyful.”
She said she wants the people who agree with her to make their voices heard: “People can ... write to their representatives ... their congressmen and women that are out there doing the work that are in Washington.”
NPR contributed to this report.
