Over the weekend, the Marin Shakespeare Company was among several Bay Area arts organizations that received news that their previously awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts have been terminated.

The notice read: "The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President ... The NEA will now prioritize projects that ... celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence."

In a statement, Lesley Currier, managing director of the 36-year-old San Rafael-based theater company, compared the action to political propaganda that has helped legitimize legal discrimination.

"Regimes throughout history have used the arts for 'patriotic' propaganda in efforts to install totalitarian governments, to instill a sole allowable way of thinking," Currier said.

The company's now-canceled $20,000 grant was designated to commission a new musical play by Lauren Gunderson, one of America's most produced playwrights, based on the book "Cinderella Liberator" by acclaimed author and activist Rebecca Solnit.

Also canceled was a separate NEA grant of $20,000 for the Marin Shakespeare Company's Returned Citizens Theatre Troupe, a program that provides drama therapy for formerly incarcerated individuals. For 22 years, the theater company has run drama therapy programs in California state prisons.

"It has been proven to reduce recidivism by half and provide profound mental health benefits," said Currier. "These programs are now at risk."

The sudden change in direction comes after President Donald Trump's May 2 proposal of a new "skinny budget" that includes the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. A White House press release states that the budget eliminates "$315 million for grant programs that push 'intersectionality,' 'racial equity,' and LGBTQIA+ programming." The budget proposal also allocates over $7 billion for lunar exploration and $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs.

"We believe that creative expression through the arts is a hallmark of a free, democratic society," said Currier. "The arts help us explore deeply our shared humanity, our compassion for people who are different from ourselves, and our beliefs about complex societal questions. The arts practice, promote, and preach free expression and free speech."