By Dan Murphy
Like museums and other institutions across the nation that depend on federal funding, The West End Museum now finds itself in a challenging position with the uncertainty surrounding the flurry of Executive Orders that President Trump signed immediately upon his return to the White House.
As The Boston Globe first reported on Jan. 29, the museum had recently learned it had been picked to receive a $25,000 federal grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities this year, along with another grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
(The White House put a temporary freeze on issuing federal grants and loans to determine whether they align with its priorities on Jan. 27 but rescinded the order two days later amid challenges from at least two federal judges.) “It creates an interesting situation for any organization with this type of funding,” said Sebastian Belfanti, executive director of The West End Museum, which only recently begun to receive federal funding.
“For The West End Museum, which is actively growing, unlocking this type of funding could be very powerful in maintaining our growth trajectory.” The National Endowment for the Humanities grant, which had been earmarked for a program called ‘Missing Stories: The LGBTQ+ Community in Boston’s West End,’ could potentially be in conflict with President’s Trump’s Executive Order entitled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and. Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. “It seems like the contract issuance might’ve been delayed,” said Belfanti, adding that he had expected the letter to arrive on or around Jan. 15. The Institute of Museum and Library Services grant, which Belfanti said he was “more immediately concerned about,” since “the museum is already billing against it,” still seems to be in the pipeline, however. These funds are crucial to The West End Museum, which is just rebounding from a substantial flood on Jan. 15, 2022, when a sprinkler check-valve ruptured on the fourth floor of the adjacent West End Place.
A renovated West End Museum formally reopened to the public on May 23 of last year, after being closed to the public for more than two years for repairs. For Belfanti, one of his overarching concerns now is if accepting federal money would put pressure on The West End Museum to change its narrative, or the stories it tells, many of which would otherwise be neglected or forgotten.
“Everything The West End Museum does promotes some form of diversity, equality, or inclusion,” he said. “We wouldn’t (and can’t) shift our organization’s founding purpose to acknowledge lost and ignored history, and then to be put in a position where if we accept federal monies we might be able to do that is extremely confusing.” To contribute to The West End Museum’s ongoing renovation costs, visit thewestendmuseum.org.