Artists wanted for Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is issuing a call for artists interested in creating statues for President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes.
The federal agency says the grant is part of “the preparation for the nation’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026” and will include “life-size statues of 250 great individuals from America’s past who have contributed to our cultural, scientific, economic, and political heritage.”
Which American heroes?
The list includes presidents, scientists, artists, athletes and other notable figures who’ve shaped American history and culture including Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein, Sally Ride, Sacagawea, Sitting Bull, John Singer Sargent, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Lauren Bacall, Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth and Kobe Bryant. (Full list is here.)
How much money?
The grant notice says awards will be “up to $600,000” with a “per-unit limit of $200,000 per statue, and applicants are limited to three statues.” The total price tag for the garden is $34 million, with $30 million set aside for the statues.
Where will the garden be?
No site has been chosen for the garden yet, but in March, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden wrote a letter to Trump offering land in the Black Hills that he says is within sight of Mount Rushmore.
Why is this happening?
Trump has taken an aggressive approach towards reshaping cultural institutions since taking office three months ago. He took over the Kennedy Center, issued an executive order that said, in part, the Smithsonian Institution had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” and has allowed DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) to cancel hundreds of National Endowment for the Humanities grants to organizations across the country.
DOGE also put the staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on paid leave, putting most of the federal agency’s grants in limbo. Grants from the IMLS support museums and libraries across the United States.
Jennifer Vanasco edited the digital version of this story. Virginia Lozano created the photo montage.
Anthropic settles with authors in first-of-its-kind AI copyright infringement lawsuit
A U.S. district court is scheduled to consider whether to approve the settlement next week, in a case that marked the first substantive decision on how fair use applies to generative AI systems.
Under Trump, the Federal Trade Commission is abandoning its ban on noncompetes
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has called his agency's rule banning noncompetes unconstitutional. Still, he says protecting workers against noncompetes remains a priority.
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5B to settle lawsuit over pirated chatbot training material
The artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay authors $3,000 per book in a landmark settlement over pirated chatbot training material.
You can trust the jobs report, Labor Department workers urge public
A strongly-worded statement from Bureau of Labor Statistics workers comes a month after President Trump attacked the integrity of the jobs numbers they release monthly.
Headed to the FBI, Missouri’s Andrew Bailey opposed abortion, backed Trump
Andrew Bailey rose quickly to be state attorney general of Missouri where he built a record for fighting abortion and defending Donald Trump. Now he's a co-deputy director of the FBI.
How Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans are reacting to Trump’s National Guard threats
Even after a federal court ruled his use of the National Guard in LA was illegal, the president has weighed sending troops to Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans. Here's where things stand in those cities.
