DOGE budget cuts are likely to hinder restoration efforts at one of Pittsburgh’s iconic art sites.
The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka was informed April 8 that it would not receive the remainder of a $472,000 grant it was awarded in 2022 by the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services. That would leave the group with a funding gap of up to $156,000 on the multi-year project, said Society executive director Anna Doering.
Another group whose IMLS funding was yanked is the Children’s Museum. Phipps Conservatory and the Heinz History Center were also awarded substantial IMLS grants in 2024 but did not respond to inquiries about the status of those funds by press time.
The cuts are part of the Trump administration’s broader dismantling of cultural agencies, including the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The administration claims a budgetary rationale, even though cultural projects constitute only a tiny fraction of federal spending. Fiscal year 2024 IMLS budget was $267 million, roughly .004% of the federal budget of $6.75 trillion.
Doering said the loss of funds might slow restoration of Vanka’s visionary murals that blanket the interior of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church, condemning greed and warfare, and which date back to the 1930s and ’40s. But she vowed the group would press on.
“We're not going to stop working,” said Doering. “We have to keep going.”
Restoration efforts, which began in 2009, were meant to undo the effects of water infiltration and other damage to the old church’s walls and vaulted ceiling. The project was boosted immensely by the multi-year Save America’s Treasures grant which, among other things, let the Society buy scaffolding for its art conservators, leading to considerable savings on scaffold rental.
The grant was slated to remain open for three years, during which time the Society could seek reimbursement from the IMLS for any expenditures. Doering said the project’s current phase was nearly complete.
“I think we will be able to finish it because I think our community will respond to our need, plus we have some organizational reserves,” she said.
However, the loss of funds might slow completion of the full renovation, which is to include conservation of the main altar mural and installation of lighting.
“If we have to kind of deplete our resources to fill this gap … things that we have planned for ’26 and ’27, … are either going to not happen or just happen on a delayed time frame,” she said.
Like many IMLS grants, this one required the recipient to raise matching funds. Doering said the Society had raised about $500,000 in funds from other donors, including the value of work by conservators who worked at reduced rates on the historically significant murals.
She said hope remains that the Society can recoup at least some of the remaining funds. The group plans to appeal to the IMLS for reimbursement of about $16,000 in receipts it submitted at the end of March, before the IMLS cuts took hold.
That would leave $140,000 in funds promised but not delivered on the project.
“There is also a promise that we are all acting in good faith, that if we're doing the work, then the other side is going to honor the obligation that they have to us as well,” she said.
Around the nation, some groups whose promised funding was clawed back by the Trump administration have filed lawsuits or are contemplating them. Doering said she is aware of such efforts but is not formally involved.
Elsewhere in Pittsburgh, the Children’s Museum received two grants totaling about $531,300 in 2024, for professional development. Spokesperson Max Pipman said Wednesday the museum had spent a portion of the funds but was unsure how much of the money it stood to lose.
Doering said while the DOGE cuts were not unexpected, more than a week later, the group was still reeling.
“It does have a really negative ripple effect through an organization, especially an organization of our size,” she said. “Committing to any organizational growth now has to take into consideration having to kind of redirect funds to something that was already, you know, a problem that was all resolved."
