Few classical music organizations in the United States are as vulnerable to the new “patriotic” diktats of President Donald Trump’s arts policy as White Snake Projects. Founded in 2018 by Cerise Lim Jacobs, a retired lawyer turned librettist, the Boston-based indie opera company’s mission is explicitly activist, with a longstanding emphasis on racial and cultural diversity and an upcoming season devoted to the existential threat of climate change. It is also funded, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Earlier this week, the NEA updated its website to say that arts organizations who have received federal money “must comply with all applicable executive orders while the award is being administered.” As of February 12, Trump has issued 60 such orders.
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