Government Funding for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts is a government sponsored foundation. The duty of the National Endowment for the Arts is to foster the growth of the arts evenly through the national, state, and local levels of the country. With all of the budget slashing that is now taking place the arts is the first place that people look to take money from. This not only happens on the national level but also in our schools.
Many people don’t see the arts as important. It is the most important thing that our society has. Art, in each and every form that it comes in, shows us who we are. Our pictures that we paint, our songs which we compose, our theater for which we write, act, and dance for, our buildings which we design, as a whole, explains our culture. Future historians will look back at these things and judge us by our accomplishments in these areas. When we look back in history, we recall it through the greatest past achievements in art: the Sistine Chapel, the great pyramids of Egypt, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and the works of Plato.
Shouldn’t we be able to show feats just as grand Most Americans do agree with me. In 1992, a study called the “Americans and the Arts VI” was conducted; it ended with these results: 60% of the people support the federal support of the arts. 63% of the people support the state’s support of the arts. 84% of the people regard art as a reflection of life and times of a nation.
The Essay on Fine Art People America Commercial
Joshua Nimoy 802690737 Scott Sherman Eng 3 June, 1999 A Culture Still Cultured art n. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principals, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. ? The Random House Dictionary? Josh, you just have to see the new GAP Khakis commercial! ? proclaimed my excited brother. I even went as far as watching the ...
75% of the people think that the government can be helpful to artists in funding their work and in helping them gain recognition. 69% of the people would raise their taxes $5 a year if it were to go to the arts. 64% a $10 increase and 56% a $15 increase. 90% of th people feel that the arts should be a regular part of a child’s education. 54% of the people would cut spending on school sports programs before the arts programs (Philp 5).
Another survey shows that 73% of the population would favor arts support even during a recession (O’Steen 229).
In 1965, when the National Endowment for the Arts was brought into being, President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves and to others the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish” (Philp 5).
The National Endowment for the Arts, returns its money from the people, back to the people. Many of the organizations and people supported by govern-ment grants might otherwise be bankrupt and out on the streets. The government’s arts endowments to the NEA in 1995 was a measly $167 million and was barely helped by the $56. 4 increase to all arts foundations (Grimes C 19).
With a still majority of Republicans in Congress, the outlook of the NEA and other nationally funded arts agencies is bleak. The House Budget Committee is chaired by John Kasich (R-Ohio) who co-authored the Penny-Kasich Amendment which calls for a ten percent cut in support for the NEA, the National Endowments for the Humanities, the Institute for Museum Services, the Smithsonian Institute, the National Gallery of Art, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Janowitz 56).
Dick Armey (R-Tex), the National House Speaker, says, “My own view of the matter is [that] the NEA offends the Constitution of the United States. My own view is [that] there is no constitutional authority for this agency to exist” (Janowitz 56).
The only hope is with President Bill Clinton (D-Ark).
Mr. Clinton calls for small increases in some of the arts foundations. He also assigned three goals to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, which he revived: to increase public understanding of the arts and the humanities and build grassroots support for them; to identify new sources of funds, especially from individuals, foundations, and corporations; and to use public meetings and publications to address urgent issues in the nation’s cultural life (Brademas 804).
The Term Paper on Mass Art People One Great
June 13, 1999 I'll start in the formal traditional way by addressing President Casper and Provost Rice, the trustees and faculty, the honored guests, the graduates and their families and their guests. Thanks a lot for inviting me to come here. I really appreciate it. I call attention to the formality of the traditional beginning of this kind of speech, because one of the things I want to talk to ...
The NEA and other government sponsored foundations are essential organs to the life of us as a society, nation, culture, and civilization. With the destruction of these agencies, the government is destroying our ability to show our inner vision.
Works Cited Brademas, John. “Valuing Ideas and Culture” Phi Delta Kapp an. June 1995 v 76 n 10 p 804 (3).
Grimes, William. The New York Times.
May 1, 1996 v 145 pC 19. Janowitz, Barbara. “Is the NEA’s Number Up” American Theatre. Feb. 1995 v 12 n 2 p 56 (2).
O’Steen, Kathleen.
Variety. Feb. 22, 1993 v 350 n 4 p 229 (1).
Philp, Richard.
“The True Mandate: Fund the Arts” Dance Magazine. Jan. 1995 v 69 n 1 p 5 (1).
