Reverse Rope Burns

The arts are not part of the ideology of either major US political party. I’m not sure if all arts supporters in our nation’s increasingly partisan landscape realize that instead of being a member of either tug-of-war team, the arts suffer the thankless role of being the rope.

This was very clear during the economic stimulus debate in January and February. The
Republican minority in Congress used arts funding as a target to rally support for their opposition of the stimulus
bill while Democrats in the House kept stimulus funds passing through the NEA intact. Despite their recent vocal attack on arts stimulus funding, the Republican led Congress steadily increased funding to the NEA from the late 90s until Democrats took over Congress in 2007. Of course, they also cut and nearly eliminated the NEA in the mid-90s.

The latest tug-of-war story swaps the political parties. In New Jersey’s Star Ledger we learned last week that former Gov. Kean (R) might sue Gov. Corzine’s (D) administration because proposed cuts to arts funding violate a tax law passed with Kean’s strong support in 2003. In this case, the disagreement appears at first glance to be rooted in how much arts funding is mandated by the 2003 law. A closer look leaves me wondering if arts funding has inadvertently gotten mixed up in electoral politics (Kean is honorary chair of Chris Christie’s gubernatorial campaign) and tax ideology (the tax is supposed to be canceled if arts funding drops below a $16 mil. minimum – Corzine proposes $14.4 mil).

I’m sure arts funding supporters in New Jersey were thrilled when a guaranteed funding source was secured in 2003. But as a variety of mechanisms for guaranteed arts funding are explored across the country, we do not yet know what new vulnerabilities they expose. What we do know, is that as long as we pursue government funding for the arts there are likely to be moments of political backlash.

I see this backlash as reverse rope burn. Reverse because the tug-of-war teams don’t feel a burn from the friction; the rope does. If we accept that reverse rope burns come with government arts funding, then we can learn and think about how to mitigate the damage they cause. I contend that no advocacy message that exists today will fully protect us from this political heat. But I do believe the most important salve we have for these burns is a strong and regular relationship with our local elected officials. While we all continue the endless work of cultivating these relationships, we can’t let the occasional burn discourage or stop us.