Yale Art Gallery abandons plans for federal grants over anti-DEI rules, funds African exhibit itself

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July 15, 2025

By Tracey O’Shaughnessy, CT Insider

Yale University Art Gallery (Ragesoss, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

NEW HAVEN — Yale University Art Gallery pulled two federal grant applications for an African art exhibition because it refused to agree to the anti-DEI language that was part of the Trump administration’s new grant acceptance guidelines, the museum said.

The decision left a $200,000 hole in the gallery’s fundraising plan for the African art exhibition, but the museum said it will reach into its endowment to mount the show as scheduled.

A spokesman for the art gallery said it pulled the grant request to the National Endowment for the Arts for $100,000 and another for the same amount from the National Endowment for Humanities for an exhibit on the art of the Nguni people of southern Africa scheduled for fall 2026.

Roland Coffey, director of communications for the museum, said in an emailed statement the gallery “objects specifically to the grant compliance stipulation that ‘the applicant does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.’ ”

In response, Coffey said, “we have a world-spanning collection of art, and it is our mission to represent a diversity of cultures.”

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ABHM recognizes diversity and is proud to show the work of artists such as Daron Wolf, Jennifer Scott, and Ras Corey Ameen.

Follow the impact of Trump’s anti-DEI efforts in our breaking news section.

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