Dear La Jolla Playhouse Friends,

Earlier this month, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) abruptly rescinded grants across the country, including a $20,000 award supporting our 2025 Without Walls (WOW) Festival. That’s right: funding for a four-day celebration of immersive and unforgettable art experiences that just welcomed 13,000+ San Diegans and visitors was pulled after the fact.

This isn’t just about one grant. It’s about the destabilization of the NEA, an institution created with bipartisan support to affirm a simple truth: the arts matter. They matter in every state, every district, every community – including ours.

Still recovering from the impacts of the COVID closures, the arts industry once again finds itself at an existential crossroads, with local and state arts funding also at risk. And while La Jolla Playhouse will keep innovating, advocating and amplifying important stories, the ripple effects of these cuts extend far beyond just us.

The loss of this support threatens the future of the WOW Festival and the creative livelihoods it fuels for artists, storytellers, designers and technicians from San Diego, across the nation and around the world. It jeopardizes the broader American theatre ecosystem, where so many transformative works begin.

At La Jolla Playhouse, we will continue to advance theatre as an art form, telling stories that inspire empathy and create a dialogue toward a more just future.

We need your voice. Your presence. Your action.

Here's how you can help:

REACH OUT. Contact your elected federal representatives today and urge them to defend America’s arts and culture.

ATTEND. Your presence matters. When you purchase tickets to Playhouse productions, you're already helping keep the arts alive. Thank you! We invite you to extend that impact by showing up for other local artists, too. Explore more events across San Diego County through KPBS’s arts calendar.

COMMUNICATE. Share this message. Talk to your community. The stakes are real.

SUPPORT. Make a gift to the Playhouse’s Annual Fund to support our WOW Festivals and other exciting and transformative projects.

This is a turning point. The arts community cannot afford to sit quietly.

See a show. Make a gift. Raise your voice. Act.

Thank you for standing with La Jolla Playhouse and the arts in San Diego and beyond.

With gratitude,