Reducing its workforce, moving to a new location and giving fewer fellowships and grants to community scholars, educators and writers are steps Virginia Humanities is taking to offset $1.7 million in federal funding cuts.
In a May 27 letter posted on the council’s website and distributed to news media, Virginia Humanities Executive Director Matthew Gibson described why the changes became necessary after the Trump administration canceled previously approved grants awarded through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in April.
The 50-year-old organization tried to minimize the impact on its cultural programs and services, but it couldn’t avoid painful changes, he said.
An “immediate loss this large is impossible to manage without making difficult and painful decisions,” Gibson wrote regarding the changes that will go into effect on July 1.
When Charlottesville Tomorrow spoke with Gibson for an April 30 news story, he was clear that much of his council’s work, particularly grant funding, could be affected. Virginia Humanities’ annual expenses were $7.34 million in 2023, according to the organization’s most recently available tax filing, and the organization previously said about 20% of its budget came from the NEH.
Virginia Humanities’ funding cuts were among more than 1,000 NEH grants that were eliminated at humanities councils throughout the country. A week after state humanities councils learned about their funding cuts, the NEH sent termination notices to 65% of its employees, according to Inside Higher Ed. The dismissals and grant terminations are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of government through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The NEH had a $200 million budget.
In his letter, Gibson said measures to address the NEH cuts include reducing its workforce by 25%. That includes not filling open positions such as the Virginia Indian Programming Coordinator and two Center for the Book positions, he said.
“And most devastating for us, it includes laying off six current staff members, each of whom has brought value to our mission and work each day since they joined our team,” Gibson added.
In a recent email from Charlottesville Tomorrow Gibson was asked which employees will be laid off. He declined to elaborate, citing privacy concerns for the nonprofit’s staff members.
However, Gibson did say that Virginia Humanities values each of its team members and “losing any of them is incredibly difficult for all of us.”
Other changes for Virginia Humanities include reducing its grantmaking by $200,000 and fellowships by $45,000 for the 2026 fiscal year. The council also will leave its Dairy Central office location in Charlottesville which it has occupied since 2021. Although a new location has not been identified, Gibson said that having the University of Virginia assume the lease helps Virginia Humanities avoid incurring penalties for vacating its offices before the lease ends.
Gibson’s letter also stated that Virginia Humanities will no longer be the institutional home of Book Arts, a program of the Virginia Center for the Book.
Located within the Jefferson School City Center in Charlottesville, the Virginia Center for the Book serves as a space for community meetings and Book Arts education.
He said that while the 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book “will be very different and be smaller,” Virginia Humanities is determined to “sustain the essence of the signature programs that we have created over decades.”
According to The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, more than 20,000 people attend the Virginia Festival of the Book each year in March with writers and readers celebrating books, reading and literacy.
Gibson also highlighted other plans for Virginia Humanities such as:
- Sustaining regional humanities centers in Hampton Roads and southwest Virginia to disburse locally directed grants. “Because of our economic reality we have suspended efforts to create additional centers at this time,” said Gibson.Â
- Continuing to partner with Virginia’s Indigenous communities. “Even without a Virginia Indian Programming Coordinator, our support of Virginia’s State and Federally Recognized Indian Tribes is and will continue to be infused throughout our work and mission,” said Gibson.Â
- Continuing to prioritize public humanities fellowships, the Rosel Schewel Fund fellowship supporting scholarship about Virginia women, and HBCU fellowships. “As we seek to document and tell the stories of all Virginians, these investments are essential in supporting scholarship from under-resourced institutions and often overlooked voices,” said Gibson.Â
Near the end of his letter, Gibson writes that Virginia Humanities will continue to provide as many programs as possible with the “generous and diversified” funding from the state of Virginia, the University of Virginia and foundations such as the Anne & Gene Worrell Foundation.
Virginia Humanities also receives support from the Federation of State Humanities Councils, which has provided emergency funding to councils with support from the Mellon Foundation, and the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, which provides funding for Virginia Humanities’ HBCU Fellowship Program.
“Our donors and partners have always been important to Virginia Humanities, and I am buoyed by their continued support throughout this difficult time,” Gibson said in his email to Charlottesville Tomorrow. “As we have throughout our history, we will work to maintain our diversified funding base in order to carry out our mission and responsibilities to Virginians.”
