The People for the NEA
I grew up listening to Prairie Home Companion on a kitchen chair while my mom braided my hair. I remember hearing many times over on that public radio station that “this program and many like it are funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.” I have to admit that I still do not know exactly what they do but I will be first to declare “fake news” on this report on the Ten Good Reasons to Eliminate the Funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. I was especially thrown back by the author’s claim that “the poor and middle class benefit less from public art subsidies then does the museum-and orchestra-going upper class.” While in actual dollars this could be accurate but in the case of behavior, community arts programs that have received NEA grants have impacted the lives of inner city youth in transformative ways. For example, a small organization in Flint can take their youth to a national slam competition because of the NEA.Not on this an opportunity for these youth to express themselves through poetry but it is chance to travel outside of their state , develop team building skills and practice conflict resolution. Opportunities like this bring communities together because they are led to stronger places of resiliency because art and an NEA fund empowered them to get there. Sure the NEA may practice censorship in itself but the funds that they release to organizations often are used to create spaces where individuals can express themselves in whatever manner artistically that they choose. In fact the NEA does not “promote the worst excesses of multiculturalism and political correctness” , instead it fosters chances for voices to have platforms that simply would not have had the space without the funds provided. I think seeing the NEA operate on a local level has made it so more accessible for me as an artist. Maybe it is still true that the rich are profiting monetarily but they are not profiting in the means of human resiliency like so many of these grassroots programs are. And as research has shown resiliency and creating beauty and pride in a neighborhood is a gateway to creating economic sustainability.
I grew up listening to Prairie Home Companion on a kitchen chair while my mom braided my hair. I remember hearing many times over on that public radio station that “this program and many like it are funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.” I have to admit that I still do not know exactly what they do but I will be first to declare “fake news” on this report on the Ten Good Reasons to Eliminate the Funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. I was especially thrown back by the author’s claim that “the poor and middle class benefit less from public art subsidies then does the museum-and orchestra-going upper class.” While in actual dollars this could be accurate but in the case of behavior, community arts programs that have received NEA grants have impacted the lives of inner city youth in transformative ways. For example, a small organization in Flint can take their youth to a national slam competition because of the NEA.Not on this an opportunity for these youth to express themselves through poetry but it is chance to travel outside of their state , develop team building skills and practice conflict resolution. Opportunities like this bring communities together because they are led to stronger places of resiliency because art and an NEA fund empowered them to get there. Sure the NEA may practice censorship in itself but the funds that they release to organizations often are used to create spaces where individuals can express themselves in whatever manner artistically that they choose. In fact the NEA does not “promote the worst excesses of multiculturalism and political correctness” , instead it fosters chances for voices to have platforms that simply would not have had the space without the funds provided. I think seeing the NEA operate on a local level has made it so more accessible for me as an artist. Maybe it is still true that the rich are profiting monetarily but they are not profiting in the means of human resiliency like so many of these grassroots programs are. And as research has shown resiliency and creating beauty and pride in a neighborhood is a gateway to creating economic sustainability.