TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Southwest Folklife Alliance, which produces the Tucson Meet Yourself festival, recently learned its $45,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was revoked. The funding loss represents about 9% of the festival’s total budget.
“If you’ve never produced an event, you don’t realize what goes into it in terms of labor and cost,” said Kimi Eisele, a folklorist with the Southwest Folklife Alliance.
For the past decade, NEA support has helped cover lighting, sound, infrastructure, and artist pay. The festival typically features various performances, demonstrations, workshops, and cultural experiences across multiple stages and locations downtown…