Donald Trump wants to cut Federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). If you are not familiar already, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent government agency that was created in 1965 to provide funding, scholarships, and grants for artistic projects. Since its launch, it has provided upwards of $5 billion in monetary support for artistic endeavors.

Federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts has been cut by Republican leaders in the past as a result of backlash from conservative groups such as the American Family Association, due to the agency's willingness to provide funding for controversial art and artists. Conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, published a document in February of last year that stated:

"Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for plays, paintings, pageants, and scholarly journals, regardless of the works’ attraction or merit. In the words of Citizens Against Government Waste, “actors, artists, and academics are no more deserving of subsidies than their counterparts in other fields; the federal government should refrain from funding all of them."

Never, however, was there a real palpable chance that funding for the agency would be cut completely. In the past, grants from the NEA have enabled numerous music festivals, educational programs, and artist collaborations to exist. Under his administration's plan, the agency's funding would account for only 0.002% of the national budget. The money re-allocated from this cut are planned to be used to inflate the United States' defense budget (which is already larger than the next seven countries combined).

As someone who is a degree-seeking, full-time student in an artistic field, I am told once again by Republican leaders that my contributions to society are not relevant to the advancement of it before I and my colleagues have the chance to prove them otherwise.