The President’s budget proposal to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts is merely an “opening argument.” A very long legislative process now begins which will, hopefully, culminate in a budget that reflects moderation and compromise.
Our advocates at Americans for the Arts have long prepared for this day – and it’s reassuring to know that the arts have friends on both sides of the political aisle. Of course, nothing is assured until the votes are counted, so until then, we must proceed from the position that the NEA’s very survival is on the line.
And for that reason, Congress is not the only place where this debate must take place.
For those of us who support public funding of the arts (plus any/all of the other programs slated for reduction or elimination) – it’s time to accept a concurrent personal responsibility to identify a friend, colleague, relative or neighbor who SUPPORTS the President’s position and engage them in an informed, respectful, and constructive dialogue. (Such supporters shouldn’t be hard to find, the latest Quinnipiac poll (March 7, 2017) reports that the President enjoys a 91% approval rating among Republicans.)
Outrage is easy. Cynicism is futile. We must resist the urge to throw up our hands in disgust.
Now is the time to redouble our efforts to understand the concerns and objectives of our fellow citizens – especially those with whom we disagree. Respecting them is essential to being heard when we communicate our own concerns and objectives. (As Michelle Obama would say, “When they go low, we go high.”)
I’m not suggesting that you pick a fight and wrestle anybody to the ground. Start easy… how about inviting someone to join you for a show, concert, or museum visit? Talk about the things that you both enjoy; discover the pleasure of common ground. It’s not phony and it’s not a set-up to a future argument. It’s about helping other people discover whatever it is that you enjoy/love/appreciate about whatever arts & cultural experience you are most passionate.
Yes, the stakes in this particular legislative battle are incredibly high. BUT OUR AMBITION SHOULD BE EVEN GREATER!
Let’s each of us – and the artistic causes, organizations, and communities that we champion – recognize this situation as a precious and critical opportunity for our own effort at audience development. Now, more than ever, we must work to attract, sustain, cultivate and diversify the population of people who recognize, enjoy and respect our nation’s arts & cultural offerings.
You want votes in Congress? Do your part by cultivating applause in your community.
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Echo that Matt. Hard not to be cynical or dispairing. We must continue to be present and fight the fight. Thankyou for your focus and your commitment. With you all the way on this.
It’s not being cynical or despairing to realize that corrupt gerrymandering, corporate lobbying laws, and a powerful right wing “news” media has brainwashed people into thinking that spending $15 billion on a border wall, cutting desperately needed social programs, while increasing military spending, is a good idea.
I’m sorry but it’s ridiculous to be told that we should somehow “get to know” someone who voted into office a man who actually said …..”I tried to fuck her. I moved on her like a bitch.” To do so just makes us complicit in the normalization of a dangerous president.
Let’s be honest. Our current $146 million dollar NEA budget is only a token budget, able to dribble out but a few small grants here and there and enough to plaster the ART WORKS label on things.
To suggest that it’s somehow our responsibility to get to know a republican so we can save the NEA is a suggestion that borders on being offensive.
Richard, I have absolutely no interested in normalizing the President’s abhorrent behaviors or defending his intolerant, fear-based and ill-conceived positions. Yet, I’m increasingly uncomfortable with the idea that HE is the only – or even the primary – issue here. That he enjoys such strong support from conservatives despite his personal flaws and the obvious incompetence of his administration – is an astounding fact. But he is not the cause of our nation’s current troubling political situation. Rather, he is the effect of years of distrust, antagonism, and fear-mongering on both sides of the political spectrum. (And I’m not at all interested in a discussion of “Who Started It” or “Who Did it More”.)
Ultimately, I’m saying that it’s time for mature, reasonable people to re-invest in the dialogue that is essential to civil society. As it relates to the funding of the NEA, even as we fight the legislative budget battle, I’m arguing that it’s not JUST the legislation that matters. We have an on-going responsibility and opportunity to engage all of our fellow citizens in the value of the arts. Frankly, if we ever got really good at doing THAT, there would never even be a legislative issue.
Matt,
I just don’t think you are acknowledging political reality.
The history of the demise of the NEA is not one where we the people lost our interest or forgot the value of the arts. The steady decline in the NEA’s budget appropriation is not the result of government responding to the public’s lacking interest in Big Bird or art museum’s. The destruction of governmental support for the NEA is the result of an engineered right wing political attack that began as one of conservative morals and quickly moved to the NEA being the poster child for the need to decrease government spending.
We have the likes of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and the demise of the NEA because of a well oiled political ideology. A system of power that now has achieve a level of impermeability that we may never get rid. They have change the rules in their favor.
Telling us that if we “engage” our gun carrying, contemporary art hating, neighbors isn’t going to change the political reality or save the NEA. I ask this with all sincerity -what does engaging even mean? Do we show up at our neighbors house like Jehovah Witnesses? Do we take someone we don’t really know or even care to know to the opera? I’m not being snarky here. What level of engagement are you suggesting we all have to participate in to be able to actually save the NEA?
What do I propose? We as liberals and progressives need to get the political power back. Until then we are just going to have to try to survive.
Richard,
My original post was all about sidestepping political reality. For sure, there’s a fierce legislative battle to be fought, and I’m present for that. Also my prior posts reveal a long history of trying to address what “engagement” might mean. (I agree – the term is vague and its meaning is elusive.) Lastly, I don’t propose doing something instead of fighting a legislative battle – I called for “concurrent personal responsibility.”
I’m trying to articulate something beyond politics and more about remedying the breakdown of American civil society. For whatever the reasons (and there are many), we’ve become a society addicted to conflict & confrontation.
I actually DO BELIEVE that engaging “our gun carrying, contemporary art hating, neighbors” makes a difference. I served as Marketing Director for the opening of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art here in Arizona in 1999, so I’ve known many of those people and have been gratified, on occasion, to be told by them, “That’s not contemporary art; I like that!“
So, yes, I do believe that arts & cultural experience is a POSSIBLE & PRODUCTIVE way to open important community dialogue – but here’s the dichotomy… When times are (relatively) good – too many arts & cultural organizations put their responsibility for “audience development” on the pedestal of being a noble cause or a long-term objective. When times are tough (that is, even tougher than usual), too many arts & cultural organizations hunker down to eliminate risk and focus on the core of their existing audience.
So, not only am I sidestepping the political reality – I’m also sidestepping the knee-jerk financial reality by which so many non-profit arts & cultural organizations operate.
What I’m proposing is that, separate from those realities, there’s a greater imperative here – to consider the wisdom that emerges from understanding the perspectives of others; the trust derived from a meaningful dialogue, and the strength and vitality of communities built by shared effort.
Amidst all the turmoil, let’s make THAT a vision worthy of the arts & cultural sector’s leadership.