Stimulate the Arts and Keep American Strong

In these times of economic crisis, it seems only rational that we should look back at our history to review what works if we want to create jobs and secure a strong economic legacy for future generations.

When faced with a collapsing economy, President Franklin Roosevelt tried to put Americans in all lines of work back on the job. Instead of singling out artists as somehow frivolous and unimportant to our nation's economy, he instituted a host of programs designed to put federal funds into the arts, employing America's creative talent and leaving a cultural legacy that endures still today.

The highpoint of this commitment was the Works Progress Administration's Federal One program, which put thousands of Americans to work in the arts. The government program was a lifeline for Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Orson Welles, Burt Lancaster, Sidney Lumet, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Studs Terkel, John Cheever, Saul Bellow, and thousands of other artists across the country.

These programs created much-needed jobs in the immediate term, but they did much more. They fostered great talents that otherwise may have been lost. The work of the many great artists supported by the government in the 1930s still benefits us today. Their contributions to our culture endure, and their successful careers resulted in employment for many others in the years that followed.

Today, however, many of our leaders apparently have forgotten this lesson of our not-so-distant history. Faced with an economic downturn of staggering proportions, some attack any help for the arts as waste, ignoring the millions of Americans who earn their livings and support their families through their artistic endeavors and arts-related enterprises.

The economic stimulus bill currently under consideration on Capitol Hill shouldn't neglect these Americans. The version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives contains $50 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, which provides critical support for America's not-for-profit arts institutions. This provision has been attacked as "pork" by some, while the Senate bill currently provides nothing for the NEA. To make matters worse, this week Senators stripped out a provision intended to provide the same job creating benefits for the film industry as the bill provides for other industries.

Why is it so hard for some to realize that jobs in the arts support millions of Americans and are no less worthy than any other job that puts food on the table? Economic studies indicate that 2.98 million Americans are employed in the arts or in arts-centric businesses. Each dollar allocated to the arts not only supports those individuals; the benefits flow outward to their communities and to other businesses. Movie production doesn't require only actors and directors. Stay for the credits after a film ends and you can't help but notice the incredible army of workers required to bring a story to the screen. In turn, each of those individuals and businesses spends money and pays taxes in their communities. The economic returns and stimulative effects are clear.

Beyond the finances, though, investing in the arts during these tough times can ensure that America doesn't lose a generation of creative talent to our temporary economic woes. Somewhere in America today, there are individuals with the potential of Orson Welles and the artistic gifts of Mark Rothko. It is foolhardy to attempt to save our economy by ignoring our talent.

Comments

[Viper]

Money for the arts are fine... but... they are icing ion the cake jobs.. and the cake is stale...

The heart of a country and the ability to afford ARTs and everything else rest on jobs in the industrial sector. We have lost 80% of those jobs since 1980. Such jobs create 4-6 other jobs. Nothing else has that high a multplier!

To attack our economic problem you must re industrialize and solve the trade deficit problem... otherwise after this money is gone... you are right back where you started in the arts and etc....out of jobs and money.

Next time you wonder where the money is for the arts.. look where your car was made, your TV, toaster,computer or stove... thats where your money for the arts went... And we Amercians sent it there... and voted for the polcies that shipped it there.

Regards

[andvoodoo2]

I am an artist (a playwright) and so are both of my children (an actress and a musician). Both of my children attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), a free arts conservatory for high school students in Louisiana. I have been involved in children's arts programs for 8 years now and have seen many children who were exposed to arts training. The children in these programs come from all socio-economic backgrounds and are of all races and ethnic backgrounds. Without fail, they are well behaved, disciplined children. They are all at least average students (most are above average) and are all college-bound.
Last year, NOCCA had 101 graduates. Of these, 1 graduate went directly into a family owned business. The other 100 students went on to universities, conservatories or other institutes of higher learning. 97% of them recieved scholarships.

I have seen first hand the value of arts training in the schools. My oldest daughter has used the acting training she received and the discipline she learned to get a scholarship to an excellent, private university where she will soon graduate with a business degree. My youngest was recently awarded a scholarship to an excellent university where she will study music industry. The arts kept my children busy throughout their teen years and gave them both a sense of accomplishment and the confidence they needed to do anything they put their mind to.

This country, now more than ever, NEEDS the arts in our schools.

[Christian]

You are exactly right, education in the arts is most vital in elementary school levels, that is where it will enhance their skills in math, science, engineering, and conceptual thinking. Supporting the production of art by individual artists is not beneficial or even good for the artist in the visual arts. It could become a crutch and stifle innovation.

[01202009]

I was a theater worker for years, and there were many times when I and my colleagues learned to make bricks without straw because there was not enough money. In spite of study after study that proves that the arts return more money to the community than the community actually invests in the way of grants and ticket sales, the arts always come out on the short and sticky end of the stick. This is the same mentally that forces schools to get rid of music programs and drama teachers so that new football uniforms can be bought and cheerleaders can get shorter skirts.
A legitimate theater in a neighborhood boosts restaurants, cabs, coffee houses, and bars, not to mention hardware stores, paint shops and fabric stores, among others.
Years ago there was a jobs program (I think under President Johnson) that partly supported job training in non-profits. We were delighted to have two full time employees that worked in administration and in carpentry and painting that made a world of difference to the company. The minute the Republicans got control—the jobs vanished and our two employees ended up on unemployment. Does that make sense?
All of our problems won’t be solved by getting rid of a whole bunch more Republicans (and a few Dems) at the next election—but it can’t hurt. I think a majority of us have had it with the obstructionists (like John Boehner) and Big Mouth Limbaugh wanting the president to fail!

[VikingQuest]

Since we're funding hobbies now with Government . . . can you through an amendment in the bailout that funds my golf rounds and some video games for my kids?

[01202009]

I guess we could put the Iraq war into the hobbies column as well, eh, Viking?

[andvoodoo2]

If you can afford to play golf, chances are you don't need any "funding". And, your kids would be better off studying dance or music than playing "video games".

The arts employ people. They aren't just "hobbies".

[Viper]

Golf course employee people.. invading the wrong country employees people... Making video games even employees more..

None will solve the economic problem... which is de industrialization and imports.

ARTS are great but will not turn around this economy so we can affoird the arts long term.... unless you buy instruments made in America with the monye and paints and brushes..good luck on doing that..

Regards

[Nonpartay]

If this is some sort of dig against arts, it just goes to show how far down the cultural scale we have come. A society without arts is dead. It has no soul. Is that what you want? I couldn't agree more with this article. Music has made my life worth living, not just listening to it but performing it. If you don't think people's happiness has a positive benefit for our society ad economy, think again. It isn't happy and productive people who commit crimes. Training the children in the arts, especially music, teaches them all kinds of values like teamwork and perseverance that spill over into the rest of their lives and can make them good citizens for their entire existence, meaning no government money has to be spent on things like remedial education or prison time. Support the arts in a big way, and this country can come out of this downturn much stronger than anyone ever imagined.

[kebbie]

You ever take your kids to a museum? (art conservators keep the objects from disintegrating) Or buy them a birthday card? (artists create cards) Or drive them across a bridge to see grandma? (artists design bridges)... ya, that's right artists. think about what you're writing.

[drricklippin]

ARTS IS A HEALTH ISSUE ALSO!

- engaging in creative acts improves health
- many important public health message campaigns can ONLY succeed when other educational methods have failed

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa

[DogLeg]

I can appreciate ANY attempt to restore even the modicum of funding that once existed for 'The Arts' when a painter or sculptor had a chance at a meaningful grant. I am an artist and I am 62 years old. I have my MFA, my BA, my curricula vitae and the portfolio of my life as any other professional. The INDIVIDUAL VISUAL ARTIST has not been able, by law to apply nor receive an NEA grant since Mapplethorpe and Serrano in 1989 detonated the culture wars that had every religious philistine with rake, shovel and axe to grind with their like-minded political 'tools' whining about the 'freedom of artists' with federal money making everybody else look like puerile old 'gasheads.' Hell, we can't even get our eff'ing Constitutionally Guaranteed 'Bill of Rights' back from the fascists, I see no hope for the brain dead populace being 'enlightened' before , say, 2190 A.D.
As for the film industry as an ally in the fight, it wouldn't be the first time and I doubt it will be the last.

'There's art and then there is everything else...'
" Five minutes and fifty years." etc., etc...

America is the art, it just doesn't get the 'inside joke.'

[GardenerNorCal]

One of the US's biggest exports is entertainment, if that doesn't qualify as part of the Arts then I don't know what does. Within the financial sector the thing we have exported the most during the last eight years has been debt.

Call me niave but I know which is more deserving of a stimulus handout.

[mergina]

Really. To hear Republicans whine about giving money to the arts, as if no one is employed by them. Think any of them have ever BEEN TO AN ART SUPPLY STORE, A MUSEUM, A GALLERY, A CONCERT, A MUSIC STORE? Do they even KNOW how many billions in art supplies are sold in this country every year alone, many of which are ACTUALLY MADE IN AMERICA?

[zizyphus]

As an artist, I find this reprehensible. Instead of being stingy and cutting all the funds, they should be hiring us to paint murals, create sculptures and dance performances for public places. There should be an Artworks Progress Administration.

[Downix]

Agreed 100%. I'd expand that too, for public documentation of the country through photographs and movies. I know my camera would be at their disposal, ironic as it was manufactured during the last depression.

[Jose Vargas]

We are going to create art one way or another. But materials: canvas, oil, turpentine, stretchers, gesso and miscellaneous cost money,especially to beginners and students. They need more help. By the way, thank you for the article. The Sublime is Now.

[DogLeg]

Jose,

Use what you find for free. The stuff people, entities, discard in this country is, bluntly, obscene wealth. You do not need traditional materials to make meaningful 'art.' Go behind the 'art material' store and look in their dumpster, and 'Home Depot, or any big box sprawl pig.

[Downix]

Somehow, ever found any 8mm, Super8, 16mm, 35mm or 70mm film in a dumpster....

Art is more than canvas and paint, you understand.

[1dogs2]

One look at the names of the artists listed in this post explains the hostility of conservatives to funding for the arts. Artists are by their very nature subversive of the status quo. They think outside the box and offer new ways of perceiving the world and ourselves. That's very dangerous to hide-bound minds.

By the time their work has been collected by public galleries, of course, their work has become part of our shared cultural heritage. Hence, refusing very modest appropriations for the maintenance of non-profit institutions such as the current recovery bill contained is different only in degree from the zealots who recently destroyed the ancient statues of Buddha.

[marlovian]

Hmm, subversive artists looking for public funding... hmmm.

[TCJakobsen]

Hi all you Americans,

its really funny how all of your right-wing people don't get it.

In my home country, Denmark, a right-wing government took over some years ago after many years of social democrats running the show. The whole art scene feared this would mean huge cuts in the state's support of the arts. But the right wing government understood that arts was good business. That it generated much more income and tax than the state spend on it. It understood we are now living in a period where 'soft power', cultural power is becoming increasingly important. They understood that big cooperations looking for the next place to open a new research center, regional HQ or whatever, are as much interested in the cultural offerings of the location as the tax rules, because the well-educated man-power they want to attract care about living somewhere with a great art scene.

Look Denmark up. It has one of the highest tax-levels in the world, a flourishing art world (from film, visual arts, design and to food) and it is also rated as one of the most competitive and attractive economies in the world. Not bad for a small old-world country which until recently had no natural resources (we found oil in the 70s - but not as much as Norway - the oil is a only a small part of Denmark's economy).

[Christian]

You guys in Denmark have huge warehouses full of art that your tax dollars have paid for and none of it worth anything to the gallery industry. I've seen those warehouses and it is amazing to see so much art stacked so high and yet worthless to the art industry. that should say something about having the state buy art just to support the artists. If they are not good enough for the art industry, it is just a mountain of junk your paying storage for. Oh, and I'm danish!

[Downix]

and we have foreclosure lists miles long of houses nobody wants to buy...

what is your point exactly?

[Nonpartay]

Europe in general seems to get it about art more than Americans do. I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps it's because we are a young country that doesn't have the many centuries of tradition in art that Europe has. I have been struck whenever I've been to Europe at how beautiful things are, buildings, parks, plazas, etc. I'm hoping that America will eventually get the message and the arts won't have to struggle so much to be expressed here. I think our new President understands the importance of art. He and Michelle went to the ballet last night. I was thrilled to hear about that! Setting such examples of supporting the arts can't hurt. He also sang in his high school choir, which could give a boost to high school choirs everywhere. :)

[jacqmac]

The people screaming 'Foul' about arts funding are short-sighted. Someone DEFENDING the film INDUSTRY (caps intended), pointed out that ALL most people see or think about when they see a movie is the people in front of them on the screen-the STARS. They have NO idea that there are at LEAST 200 or MORE JOBS behind every movie that comes out of Hollywood or elsewhere-­-obviously they have NEVER stayed for the credits. If there are no movies being made, these people are out of work. If these people are out of work--that adds to the GLUT in the unemployment market. NOT everyone involved with a movie or television show has a glamorous life. There are plenty of film INDUSTRY employees who live in modest homes, drive older cars, don't ever see the Red Carpet. They are the ones who are going to be hurting. Same is true for writers. However, I'm beginning to think that the reason that writers are not being considered in this package as worthy of a helping hand is because writers spread IDEAS, sometimes ORIGINAL ideas at that, and well---er---has an ORIGINAL IDEA come out of the mouths of ANY of these Republican adversaries? Of course, they will be the losers in the end when they can't find a ghost writer for THEIR latest book----
FDR was as visionary as Obama is trying HARD to be. He saw the connection.. Sure we need bread--but we also need ROSES!

[williamwilliam]

Why not fund the artists?

-Because ideas are dangerous.

[miltonista]

sometimes i feel like i'm in an alternate universe reading these things...

[DogLeg]

That's because we have been in and out of one since Reagan, and, please, don't talk to me about the 'Clintonista lites.'