D.C. arts commission: FY26 budget down 5.1%; Council earmarks $4.85M for three theaters

The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities told its executive committee Wednesday that the agency’s fiscal 2026 budget is 5.1% lower than last year and that the D.C. Council has earmarked $4,850,000 for three theaters in pending legislation. Reggie Van Lee, chairperson of the commission, reported the budget change during the commission’s July 16 executive committee meeting, held virtually.

The commission’s budget for FY26 “is 5.1% lower than last year’s budget,” Van Lee said. He also said, “Council has assigned $4,850,000 to 3 theaters, namely the National, Howard, and Lincoln Theaters in the Budget Support Act.”

Why it matters: the chair framed the information as a status update for arts stakeholders. Van Lee advised that the D.C. Council will have two more opportunities to review and vote on the legislation “over the next 2 weeks,” and encouraged interested members of the public to contact their ward and at-large council members — named in the meeting as Henderson, McDuffie and Bonds — with questions or concerns.

The commission also reported that FY26 grant panels are underway and that staff are on pace to issue the grants timeline and meet milestones for applicants. “We are on pace to issue our grants timeline and meet our milestones,” Van Lee said, noting applicants should contact their assigned grants staff manager with questions.

No formal vote or fiscal action was recorded during the public portion of the executive session. The meeting moved into a closed executive session after the public updates; the commission did not disclose deliberations held in closed session during the public record.

Details cited at the meeting: the 5.1% budget decline was described as relative to last year’s budget; the $4,850,000 allocation is identified in the meeting as part of the Budget Support Act and targeted to three named theaters. The commission reiterated the council’s remaining legislative steps and the opportunity for members of the public to contact council members while the legislation is under consideration.

The commission did not provide a breakdown at the public meeting of how the $4.85 million is distributed among the three theaters, nor did it provide a line-item budget showing which programs were cut to achieve the 5.1% reduction. Those details were not specified during the public update.

The executive committee adjourned the public portion of the meeting after delivering the update and then moved to a closed session for matters the commission said it would discuss privately.