Show Me the Money!

Today, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced that it will distribute just under $27 million in grants to 1,207 projects. Included in those numbers are 994 projects ($23,828,500) in the “Access to Artistic Excellence” category. According to the NEA press release, 1,697 eligible applications were submitted seeking funds for the creation and presentation of work in a variety of disciplines--a 22 percent increase over the prior year. For those keeping track, that means that just under 59% of the requests were funded (though many may have received a smaller grant than requested).

NEA Chair, Rocco Landesman stated that these grants will support “projects that have great works of art at the heart of them; that work to inspire and transport audiences and visitors; and that create and retain opportunities for artists and arts workers to be a part of this country's real economy."

With ten Oregon arts organizations receiving grants totaling $232,500, that works out to be just about 1 percent of the total. According to population estimates from the U.S. Census (2008), Oregon has 1.2 percent of the nation’s population. Seems to me, we got screwed out of .2 percent of what's due. But let's not quibble over rounding errors. You might note that six of the ten Oregon projects are to theater companies.

Here’s the list of Oregon's awardess, with project descriptions from the NEA. On behalf of Culture Shock, I extend a hearty congratulations to all of them:

Miracle Theatre Company
Category: Theater
$15,000
To support the West Coast premiere of El Quijote by Santiago García, based on the early 17th-century novel Don Quixote by Cervantes. Artistic Director Olga Sanchez will direct the piece.

Oregon Children's Theatre Company
Category: Theater
$20,000
To support the adaptation and premiere of Small Steps by Louis Sachar. The play will be a sequel to Sachar's novel Holes, which also was successfully adapted for the stage.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association
Category: Theater
$50,000
To support the development and world premiere production of American Night, a new piece by the theater ensemble Culture Clash to be directed by Jo Bonney. The project will be the first production in the company's American Revolutions: the United States History Cycle, a decade-long public dialogue, commissioning, and production initiative.

Portland Center Stage
Category: Theater
$15,000
To support the 12th annual JAW (Just Add Water): Playwrights Festival. The festival supports playwrights in the development of new works to enhance the repertoire of the American theater.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre
Category: Theater
$10,000
To support a final workshop and world premiere production of The Gray Sisters by Craig Wright. The production will be directed by Producing Artistic Director Slayden Scott Yarbrough and performed by company members.

White Bird
Category: Dance
$25,000
To support the presentation of dance companies in the White Bird Uncaged series. The project will include master classes and lecture-demonstrations.

Portland Art Museum (on behalf of Northwest Film Center)
Category: Media Arts
$35,000
To support the Northwest Film and Video Festival and its tour throughout the Northwest. The festival showcases new work by media artists living in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

Eugene Symphony Association, Inc.
Category: Music
$12,500
To support American Encounters: Steven Stucky. The series will include performances of Stucky's recent compositions, a radio broadcast, and educational activities by the composer.

Artists Repertory Theatre (aka Artists Rep)
Category: Musical Theatre
$20,000
To support the development and production of Gracie and the Atom by Portland playwright and composer Christine McKinley. The production will be promoted through the theater's education and outreach program Actors to Go, which features student matinees, artists in classrooms, and post-show discussions.

Portland Opera Association Inc.
Category: Opera
$20,000
To support new productions of a chamber opera triple-bill comprising Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti and Monteverdi's one-act operas Il Ballo Delle Ingrate and Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. The artists will include the Portland Opera Studio Artists (POSA) and the POSA Chamber Opera.

Portland Taiko
Category: Presenting
$10,000
To support the development and presentation of Ten Tiny Taiko Dances. The series of new works will be created in collaboration with invited choreographers, musicians, and performance artists.

Although the organization is based in Vancouver, there’s one more project that touches Oregon:

Confluences (aka The Confluence Project)
Category: Design
$32,000
To support a landscape art installation by artist/architect Maya Lin at Celilo State Park. The installation will be located near The Dalles, Oregon, where one of North America's largest waterfalls was once located.

One final note: This post is an example of the new citizen's journalism that will soon be crushing "legacy media," which is what we're supposed to be calling that old fashioned stuff like newspapers. Frankly, I don't see why we need real reporters anyway. All I had to do was extract text from a press release, pull a list from a website, and do a quick Google search for census data. Any idiot could do it.

Straight Talk from a Guy Named Rocco

Surely you've heard that Rocco Landesman has been confirmed as the new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Folks are expecting (and hoping) that Mr. Landesman will shake things up after his predecessor, Dana Gioia, made the political calculation that we ought to treat the arts as a warm glass of milk: comfortable, familiar and soothing. That may have been the appropriate response for the times, but Mr. Landesman is making noises like he's ready to kick out the jams. A successful businessman and theatre entrepreneur, he steps into the position at the NEA with a reputation for candor and for possessing "sharp elbows."

The following are a few select quotes from a profile of Mr. Landesman which recently ran in the New York Times.

Regarding the place of the arts in American politics, he said, “The arts are a little bit of a target. The subtext is that it is elitist, left wing, maybe even a little gay.”

I'm sure the folks in Peoria weren't too happy to read this statement about artistic merit vs. geographic representation in awarding NEA grants: “I don’t know if there’s a theater in Peoria, but I would bet that it’s not as good as Steppenwolf or the Goodman. There is going to be some push-back from me about democratizing arts grants to the point where you really have to answer some questions about artistic merit.”

Then there's his goal of making sure the arts are included in economic recovery planning: “We need to have a seat at the big table with the grown-ups.”

As for the former agency slogan, “A Great Nation Deserves Great Art,” Mr. Landesman had this to say: “We might as well just apologize right off the bat.”

Let's wish him luck.

More Stimulating News

I'm not dumping this story on a Friday afternoon in order to beat the news cycle or anything like that. I figure most Culture Shock readers aren't coming to us for breaking news; rather, you are ambling past when you have nothing else to do, or when you accidentally click on a link that leads here. In any case, file this one under “P” for Public Service Message. (As opposed to "M" for Mildly Entertaining Filler).

Last week we posted a list of arts organizations in Oregon which received National Endowment for the Arts grants as part of the fed's economic recovery plan. This week, the Oregon Arts Commission announced who will be receiving the share of federal funds it received from the NEA to be regranted to save arts jobs in the state. When spread across the entire state, the $306,700 in federal money doesn’t go very far. This round reached only sixteen arts organizations:

The Arts Center, Corvallis, $26,000.
Arts Central, Bend, $20,700.
Cappella Romana Vocal Ensemble, Portland, $10,000.
Friends of Chamber Music, Portland, $20,600.
Columbia Center for the Arts, Hood River, $18,000.
Eastern Oregon Regional Arts Council, La Grande, $10,000.
Ethos Music Center, Portland, $20,000.
Independent Publishing Resource Center, Portland, $10,000.
Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, Eugene, $22,500.
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, $30,000.
Oregon East Symphony, Pendleton, $8,800.
Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, $30,000.
Southern Oregon Film Society, Ashland, $29,000.
Tears of Joy Theatre, Portland, $12,000.
Umpqua Valley Arts Association, Roseburg, $20,000.
Write Around Portland, Portland, $20,000.

Yay!

Arts Stimulation

The NEA just announced new grants made under the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.” These were grants designed specifically to save jobs--either by keeping someone from being sacked, or by allowing a laid off employee to be rehired.

You may recall that Culture Shock covered this topic months ago when we decried Republican Senator Tom Coburn’s batshit crazy attempt to restrict funding of arts and cultural projects. That coverage included this rip-roaringly hilarious parody of an NEA grant proposal.

The NEA awarded 631 grants totaling close to $30 million. Only arts organizations which had received NEA funding within the most recent few funding cycles were eligible. The NEA also allocated a share of economic stimulus funds for state arts agencies to distribute. Now that the first round of direct grants has been announced, I expect that the Oregon Arts Commission will soon be announcing who will receive funds from its pool of money.

Oregon received a total of $350,000 in nine grants. Curiously, Oregon Ballet Theatre wasn’t among them. The local winners were:

Literary Arts, Inc. $50,000
Miracle Theatre Company $25,000
Oregon Symphony Association $50,000
Portland Center Stage $50,000
Portland Youth Philharmonic Association $25,000
White Bird $50,000

Out of towners were:

CALYX, Inc. $25,000
Eugene Symphony Association, Inc. $50,000
Fishtrap, Inc. $25,000

Congratulations!

New Motto for the NEA?

Previously reported here and elsewhere, President Obama has nominated a new chair of the National Endowment of the Arts. Folks are expecting Rocco Landesman, an accomplished Broadway producer, to shake things up at the NEA. Over at Art Scatter, a post by Bob Hicks about the NEA appointment has stirred up some thought-provoking comments, which I’ve been meaning to add to except that … well you know how that goes.

Meanwhile, on the LA Times Arts Blog, “Culture Monster,” Christopher Knight recommended a change in the NEA’s motto. He describes the current slogan – “A Great Nation Deserves Great Art” – as an “imperial bit of provincial pomposity.”

I agree with that sentiment. Implicit in the slogan is that all you crappy nations deserve the art you get. It’s all part of that American exceptionalism that makes me cringe. Is it possible to be a patriot without claiming that Americans are more loving, caring, hard-working, creative, inventive, freedom-lovin’ than everyone else on earth?

Knight recommends a change to:

“Great Art Makes a Great Nation.”

What think you?

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

I Have a Dream … About Art!

Our Art Doesn’t Torture Either.

America is for Lovers … of Art.

Our Art Looks Great AND is Less Filling.

Art Brings Good Things to Life (sponsored by GE)

With a Name Like America, the Art Has Got to be Good.

What Can Culture Do For You?

The New NEA Chair

We trust you've been making your usual visits to the greatest local arts blogs, and have seen Mead's Blogorrhea post that Broadway producer Rocco Landesman has been nominated as the next chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). As Mead pointed out, this could be really great news for the theater community especially.

The only thing I want to contribute to that conversation is that Americans for the Arts has posted a blog entry asking people what Mr. Landesman's first priority should be as the new Chair. Wouldn't it be great to have some of our local perspectives represented in this national conversation that I know the NEA will be watching? (Speak intelligently, people.) You might also find the AFTA blog to be worthy of your bookmarking button.

http://blog.artsusa.org/2009/05/14/new-nea-chair-announced/

I'd also like to recognize Patrice Walker Powell -- a wonderful friend to state and local arts agencies -- who has been the acting Chair since Obama came into office. She handled all of the NEA-related economic stimulus efforts and should be congratulated for her good work even though many of us didn't care for the limitations that the federal budget office placed on those dollar. (Chief among these limitations was the rule that organizations without an NEA relationship could not apply for stimulus funds. To expedite the discovery process, the federal government determined that only organizations that had received an NEA grant in the past five years would be be eligible for these funds.) The Oregon Arts Commission received $307,000 of these funds (which will be regranted to organizations but you have to submit your application today), and I suspect many local arts organizations will be on the list to receive job recovery grants when the NEA announces those awards next month.

But back to the matter at hand. Let's advise the NEA what they should be focusing on this year.

Free Jazz to Cleanse the Palate

I found at least two items of import while cruising Facebook today:

1) The March 12th deadline for NEA grants was pushed back a week due to technical problems. (Thank you Baby Jesus!) The computer that processes NEA grants was apparently covered in chocolate while yams were stuffed into its expansion slots. (If you don't get that joke, find a time machine and set the dial for 1990).

2) Friend of Culture Shock and cultural gadfly Tim DuRoche posted a video of himself performing as a member of Better Homes and Gardens with compatriots Reed Wallsmith (alto sax) and Bob Jones (bass).

After all our moaning about the Oregon Cultural Trust, I decided that Culture Shock needs a palate cleanser. And while Ornette Coleman may not be the first person to whom you should turn for such a task, that’s who you’re about to get. (Those of you with a low tolerance for inscrutable free jazz, may want to move along). I liked the Better Homes and Gardens rendition of Coleman’s “Song X” because:

1) I love crazy jazz drumming and Mr. DuRoche is a master.

2) As cacophonous as it all may be, they’re laughing at the end—a reminder that we shouldn't be too serious in the midst of chaos.



If that's not enough to keep you satisfied, I'm working on a new Robot Report, as well as an account of a recent brush with the criminal justice system--a report with the working title: Testify! A Morality Tale in Which Our Hero Uses the Power of Persuasion and an Eye for the Truth to See that Justice is Served. Curious?

Growing the Pie

As noted by Culture Jock on Friday, Americans for the Arts announced some good news at the end of last week: “The House of Representatives voted 246 to 183 to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The bill includes $50 million in direct support for arts jobs through the National Endowment for the Arts and language that would have prevented museums, theaters, and arts centers from receiving stimulus funds was removed.”

Here at Culture Shock, the knicker-twisting over federal arts funding left our knicker-covered parts raw. Nothing a little balm won’t soothe, but the chafing makes its presence known. Those of us toiling in the lettuce patches of culture were rightfully perturbed to have our work trivialized – as if we’re not doing “real jobs.” Next thing you know, some crazy politician will be claiming we’re not “real Americans!”

While the immediate question of $50 million worth of stimulation may be settled, we must continue to gird up our loins with the belt of truth in defense of art and arts funding. So let’s get back to the question of advocacy.

In a recent post, Culture Shock contributor, Cynseattle, pointed readers toward a Chicago Tribune opinion piece in which Chris Jones states, “Too little attention has been paid to making the long-term political case that culture is important and accessible to ordinary people and thus worthy of financial support.”

The case for culture’s contribution to social, economic and personal well-being is well documented and has been artfully argued. Our friend, Tim DuRoche, for example, recently wrote a compelling case for the economic value of the arts; more than a dry case statement, Tim transforms statistical abstractions into examples from real life. You can read Tim’s letter to Senator John McCain over here at Art Scatter.

Thus, we have this argument:

Whereas culture is important in many ways; and,
Whereas culture is not as elitist as you think;
Therefore: Culture is worthy of financial support.

Sure, we need to keep pressing the need-based and value-based arguments, but is the problem that we haven’t shouted our case loudly enough? Do we need to strop our dulled campaign slogans to a keener edge? Should we be investing in more billboards, or filling the airwaves with our adjurations? Refrigerator magnets?

Here’s what I think: Arts advocacy has fallen short because we keep pressing a case that many of our political adversaries aren’t quibbling about.

Many or most of our opponents will concede that arts and culture are good for us, individually and collectively. Believe it or not, some stalwart fiscal conservatives don’t sneer at culture and spit on artists; they go to the opera, wander museum galleries, and know their derrières from their arrières when attending the ballet. Some of them even sit on the boards of arts organizations and foundations that make generous grants in support of culture. They agree that the arts can contribute to building a citizenry comprised of wise and nimble team-players who are ready to innovate our way into the global economy.

BUT (and I like big buts), that’s not their issue. Their problem with arts funding is that they don’t believe that government has a role in supporting the arts. That argument is based in one or more of the following beliefs:

1) The limits of government responsibility do not encompass cultural affairs.

2) Art happens – it always has and it always will, even without government support.

3) Art needs support, but that’s what the private sector is for.

4) Government intervention will hurt or hinder the arts.

For many conservatives, you can replace the word “art” in the preceding list with education, health care, nutrition programs, or any of a long list of public goods; after all, the desire for limited government is a huge part of what defines a conservative. (Some of our readers will say that I left out “pure evil” as part of that definition, but I’m trying to seem rational).

In the arts world, we might argue about which makes the strongest case for culture: That the arts have inherent value, or that they have utilitarian benefits. Put another way, should we support the arts because the arts are: (1) inherently sweet and delicious; or (2) packed full of fortifying nutrition? We rarely make the case for why an investment in all that yummy goodness should be a function of government—local, state or federal.

Perhaps it is time to stop declaiming the goodness of art and pay more attention to making the case for why government should (or must) have a role in supporting it. And let’s be careful to avoid tautologies: e.g., “Government should support the arts because … well, just because that’s what the government should do.”

We should try to explicate the unique role government can play in the arts economy. What can government do for the arts that the private sector either can’t or won’t?

Part of the answer may be that we need government to invest in activities that produce public goods which the private sector either can’t or won’t support; for example, ensuring broad access to culture for citizens who would otherwise not be able to afford to participate. An analogy might be the federal government’s investment in public education or rural electrification.

Another part of the answer may involve bricks and mortar—investing in our cultural infrastructure. Similar to building roads, levees and schools, perhaps the public sector is the only one that can muster the capital needed to build the physical infrastructure needed for cultural activities that serve the public. The government may also be the only sector that is able or willing to assume the risks involved in big cultural construction projects. Portland Center Stage’s Armory project, for example, was made possible by loan guarantees and tax breaks from the public sector (though it’s a shame that our local, state and federal governments couldn’t just hand over cash for that urban asset). If Portland had a “shovel ready” performance venue in the works right now, might that be a better use of economic stimulus funding than doling out a little bit of extra grant money to lots of arts organizations this year?

One more unique government role could be to serve as an arts incubator; for example, project grants from our own Regional Arts and Culture Council are often the first grant funding that emerging artists and organizations are able to secure, thus helping to leverage giving from private donors. Another government role could be cultural diplomacy--something I think we'll be seeing more of under an Obama administration.

Perhaps our readers will jump in with other suggestions, or point us to folks who have already presented the case for government’s unique role in the arts. (Sorry to keep highlighting “unique,” but that’s the concept I’m looking for).

I’ll close with a radical thought that may be a kick to the hornet’s nest: What if we combined our request for MORE government funding with an agreement to NARROW how that funding will be used? For example, what if we stipulate that federal funds will be directed toward subsidizing the construction of cultural facilities (libraries, arts centers, performing arts venues) only? If the federales were to underwrite more of a building’s construction, arts organizations could focus on raising private money for operations or endowments rather than capital.

Or is it time to fight against any compromises?

Wow, way to show the love, Daddy!

Soprano's senator dad buries arts stimulus funding
February 10, 2009

Come November, Sarah Coburn, a rising soprano, is scheduled to sing her first L.A. Opera role in Handel's "Tamerlano," playing opposite Placido Domingo as the beleaguered daughter of a conquered Turkish potentate.

Culture Monster wonders whether any semblance of that tale's turbulence is stirring within Coburn's own family these days considering that her dad, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), has led the charge to keep federal economic stimulus money from landing in the pockets of artists such as, well, his daughter.

On Friday, the Senate voted 73-24 in favor of Coburn's amendment "to ensure that taxpayer money is not lost on wasteful and non-stimulative projects," such as funding museums, theaters and arts centers.

"It's been ... Sarah's longtime policy not to comment on her father's career," said Stuart Wolferman, a spokesman for her New York management company.

If arts partisans are tempted to cast Coburn père as a stereotypical Okie-from-Muskogee (indeed, that is his hometown) who hammers the arts out of ignorance, there's a bit of a complication: "The senator comes to the opera a lot," reports Mark Weinstein, executive director of Washington National Opera, which is sending its production of "Tamerlano" our way.

Reviewing "Tamerlano" in Washington last year, the Washington Post said that a lovers' duet Coburn sang with Patricia Bardon, a woman playing a male role, "was so lovely it stopped time."

Writing in the New Yorker about Sarah Coburn's performance last summer in Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" at Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, N.Y., Alex Ross described her as "a voice of particular radiance.... To the requisite loveliness of tone Coburn added ample breath control, pinpoint accuracy in coloratura passages, and innately musical phrasing."

-- Mike Boehm

Mea Culpa

I need to apologize to our readers, to artists and to all who support the inclusion of arts funding in the economic stimulus package. Like you, I’ve been reading about how the “batshit crazy” rightwing anti-culturalists have been maligning arts funding as non-stimulative pork. I was just as disappointed as you to learn that Senators Wyden and Merkley voted for a stimulus bill that included this egregious amendment from Senator Coburn:

None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, arts center, or highway beautification project, including renovation, remodeling, construction, salaries, furniture, zero-gravity chairs, big screen televisions, beautification, rotating pastel lights, and dry heat saunas.

I was dismayed to learn that a recent editorial in the National Review sarcastically opined that increased funding for the NEA would mean that "the unemployed can fill their days attending abstract-film festivals and sitar concerts."

Then it all started to sound vaguely familiar. I got a sinking feeling that I may have inadvertently contributed to the problem. A quick scan of my files brought the memory back and verified my complicity: Just last year I wrote a grant proposal to the NEA on behalf of a regional arts organization. (Professional ethics and common decency bar me from revealing the client's name). The proposal must have been leaked to the Republicans by a disgruntled grant panelist! Since the project is unlikely to be funded, I will share a synopsis of the proposal:

Describe the Project: [NAME REDACTED], Oregon’s leading collective of multidisciplinary dance, theater and abstract film artists, seeks NEA funding for a project through which it will engage the community in dialogue that will inform a co-creative process of examining, exploring and explicating the multidimensional intersections and interstices between consumer culture, Wall Street fraud and organized religion. The site-specific, time-based performative project will draw upon influences as diverse as Andres Serrano, Karen Finley and Robert Mapplethorpe. Seminal materials will be used. We mean urine.

The project’s artistic collaborators will construct a temporary public art installation on the eighteenth hole of the Bandon Springs Golf Resort. This site was selected to provide opportunities for broad-based cultural access to underserved rural communities. The installation will consist of two vitrines to be fabricated, in situ, by 48 glass artists using recycled wine bottles melted in massive anagama kilns. Each vitrine will measure 20’ x 20’ x 20’ (8,000 cubic feet) and will be filled with liquid.

The first vitrine will represent the primeval ocean from which all life evolved. It will be filled with sweat collected from 800 dance artists commissioned to perform an extended choreographic masterwork in a giant dry heat sauna to be constructed in the abandoned warehouses of Laika Studios. At risk youth from inner-city neighborhoods will be employed to scrape the sweat from the dancer’s bodies over the course of the 18-month dance performance.

Once the vitrine is filled with the salty fluid, hundreds of chinook salmon will be released into it. Their futile attempts to migrate and spawn will be accompanied by a techno-industrial score performed by a 32 piece sitar orchestra and four dozen unemployed construction workers with jackhammers. The salmon will then be slaughtered by marauding sea lions in a bloody orgy of classist oppression.

A live video feed will be sent by fiber optic cable to a state-of-the art Imax theater to be constructed at a remodeled Oregon Aquarium (Newport). Simultaneous video feeds will be sent to Spirit Mountain Casino (Grand Ronde) and Chinook Winds Casino (Lincoln City), where spectators will view the salmon slaughter on big screen televisions while placing bets on which fish will be the last to survive. To highlight the interconnectedness between the project sites, Highway 101 (Newport to Lincoln City) and Highway 18 (Lincoln City to Grand Ronde) will be beautified by a nighttime display of rotating pastel lights as well as abstract film.

The second vitrine will be filled with urine. Members of Portland’s burgeoning creative class will be invited to a three-day outdoor concert at which free PBR and Stumptown coffee will be served. Participants will then urinate into special holding tanks. (Many participants may choose to kiss each other while doing so). They will also be encouraged to ride bicycles to the concert site.

Once this vitrine is filled, a figure of Jesus Christ suspended in a zero-gravity chair will be smeared with dung and chocolate and submerged. The vitrine will be lit by more rotating pastel lights (or perhaps primary colors this time). The artistic co-creators will initiate intra-, extra- and inter-community dialoguing sessions to find, create and shape meaning.

The proposed project budget of $2.75 million will leverage an estimated $18.7 million in direct spending in the region, as well as an additional bunch of fiscal stimulus through the economic multiplier effect we’re always talking about. The project will create at least 1,500 family-wage jobs for artists, as well as employing construction workers and teenagers who would just as soon cut you. The long-term infrastructural improvements to roads, fiber optic networks, casinos and art centers (did we mention art centers?) are incalculable, but are sure to be sustainable. Letters of support from the big screen television, rotating light and zero-gravity chair industries are attached.

Arts Support: It's not about "rotating pastel lights"

Chris Jones, chief theater critic for the Chicago Tribune, posted a passionate and well-argued commentary yesterday. In the midst of the debate over the very oddly worded Coburn Amendment (the Willamette Week referred to Senator Tom Coburn as "batshit crazy" in their op-ed piece on the issue http://www.wweek.com/wwire/?p=21230#comments_add), Jones argues that the arts community needs to make a better case for Federal support. Here's an excerpt, with a link to the full piece at the end.

"In the recent debate over the Barack Obama administration's economic recovery bill, proposals to spend government money on the arts have become poster children for pork. It is time for the American arts community to confront its stunning political ineptitude. It has arrived at a place where there seems to be no one to make its case; no one, at least, free from the taint of self-interest. After all, the argument that the labor-intensive arts are not job-creation engines is patently absurd; they just fuel different kinds of struggling workers, workers unaccustomed to bonuses. Their role in generating billions of dollars in ancillary economic activity for stores, restaurants and the travel business has been proven in bucketloads of surveys and analyses. In less than 75 years, the arts have gone from the single largest priority in a government stimulus package to a toxic joke, with a popular special amendment keeping them out. It is a stunning turnaround. How did it happen? Artists must shoulder some blame. Too little attention has been paid to making the long-term political case that culture is important and accessible to ordinary people and thus worthy of financial support. The arts have thrown up precious few, articulate, clout-heavy American leaders of their own. That needs to change."

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2009/02/in-economic-stimulus-package-arts-deserve-place-in-line.html