National Endowment for the Arts : a brief history, 1965-2006 : an excerpt : the beginning through the Hanks era PDF
Preview National Endowment for the Arts : a brief history, 1965-2006 : an excerpt : the beginning through the Hanks era
ENDOWMENT NATIONAL ARTS for the A BRIEF HISTORY 1965-2006 An Excerpt: THE BEGINNING THROUGH THE HANKS ERA NATIONAL ENDOWMENT ARTS for the A BRIEF HISTORY 1965-2006 An Excerpt: THE BEGINNING THROUGH THE HANKS ERA “Theartsandsciencesareessentialtotheprosperityofthestateandto theornamentandhappinessofhumanlife.Theyhaveaprimaryclaim totheencouragementofeveryloverofhiscountryandmankind.” George Washingtonto Rev.Joseph Willard I muststudypoliticsandwar,thatoursonsmayhavelibertytostudy mathematicsandphilosophy. Oursonsoughttostudymathematicsand philosophy,geography, naturalhistoryandnavalarchitecture, navigation, commerceandagricultureinordertogivetheirchildrenarighttostudy painting,poetry,music,architecture, statuary,tapestryandporcelain.” JohnAdamstohiswifeAbigailAdams Digitized by the Internet Archive 2015 in https://archive.org/details/nationalendowmen00nati_1 Preface welcome to this celebratory symposium ofthe 40th anniversaryofthe National EndowmentfortheArts. Wehopeyou’ll findthese three days an informative, enlightening, and enlivening opportunityto understandtheenormous effecttheArts Endowment has hadonAmerica’s artists, arts organizations, and audiences over thepastfourdecades. At the end ofthis anniversaryyear, we will be publishing a brief history ofthe NEA that will look at the genesis and genius of a government agency created solelyto foster creativity and bring the best ofthe arts to allAmericans. The storyofthe birth and growth of the Arts Endowment is uniquely American and has shaped artistic endeavors inourcommunities fornearlyhalfacentury. (PhotobyVance The followingis an excerptoftheopeningchapters ofourmanu- Jacobs) script,whichisstillaworkinprogress. DanaGioia Chairman National EndowmentfortheArts 5 Introduction T -L- HE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS the NEA is a uniqueagencyinthepanoplyoffederalinstitutions. Createdbythe Congress ofthe United States and President Lyndon B. Johnsonin 1965, the NEAwas notintended to solve aproblem, butrathertoembodyahope. Its mandatewas notinternational; itwas notfoundedto promoteAmericanculture overseas, ortootherwiseimprove America’s globalimage. The NEAwas establishedtonurtureAmericancreativity,to elevatethe nation’s culture, andto sustainandpreservethe country’s manyartistic traditions. The Endowment’s mission would be to spread this artistic bounty throughouttheland,fromthedenseandhecticstreetsofourlargestcitiestothevast ruralspaces sothateverycitizenmayenjoythegreatlegacyofAmericanart. In two aspects, theArts Endowmentdiffers greatlyfromthe priorfederal pro- grams withwhichhistorianshave mostoftencompared it, the FederalArts Project and FederalWriters’ Project,maintainedduringtheGreatDepressionbytheadmin- istrationofFranklin D. Roosevelt. The New Dealprograms providedjobless artists — andwriterswithemployment thatis, itassistedintheresolutionofanationaleco- nomic crisis. In many instances the Federal Arts Project and similar efforts associatedwith it, suchas thephotographicworkofthe Farm SecurityAdministra- tion, were also intendedto convey President Roosevelt’s political messages about howthenationwouldrecoverfromeconomicdevastation. Bycontrast, theArts Endowmentwas createdneithertoprovide supportforthe unemployednortodeliverapoliticalmessage. The idealisticoptimismexpressedat the birth ofthe NEAwasverydifferentfromthehope forrestorationofAmerican 6 —— prosperityduringthe Depression. Inthe NEA’s case, hope bore no connectionto despair;itwasapurefunctionoftheexaltationofthespirit. The distinctive origins ofthefederal arts programs ofthe New Dealand ofthe National EndowmentfortheArtswerereflectedinthekinds ofartwithwhicheach wasassociated.TheNewDealprogramsproducedart,especiallyinthevisualfields muralsandotherpaintingsinarecognizedstyle,withasimilarsensibilityinsome, butnotall, ofthephotographicworkitsubsidized.Aschoolof“WPAart” (WPA WorksProgressAdministration)thusbecameamajorphenomenonoftheNewDeal era,buttherewasnotandmustnotbean“NEAstyle” ofart. Parallelingthepolitical missionofWPAartinsupporting NewDealprograms, suchworksalsoreflecteda commitment on the part ofmany artists in that epochtocollectivistvalues andthepromotionof government in society. But neither the Arts Endowment nor American artists who worked withtheagencyoverthepast40yearshavesought torevivesuchasensibility. Nevertheless, the history ofthe NEA also has elements incommonwiththatofNew Deal pro- grams forartists andwriters. The firstand most obvious is thatboth soughttobringculturetothe people. The second is that both represent irre- placeable records of the intellectual and Amural created bythe Brandywine River ideological challenges that America underwent School artists inthe1930sas partofthe duringtheprogress oftheiractivities. Duringthe Works ProgressAdministration (WPA). New Deal, the photographic scrutiny ofWalker The mural hangs intheJohn Bassett MooreSchool in Smyrna, Delaware. Evans, Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, and others (PhotocourtesyofSmyrnaSchool subsidized in federal arts programs did notturn District) away from the drama ofAmerica struggling to risefromeconomicdeprivation. Similarly, tocomprehendAmericaoverthepast40 years, wewill examine awide range ofworks supportedbythe NEA, aswell as the occasionalcontroversies thathave disruptedits mission. Fewfederal agencies can offerthepublic, orhistorians tocome, sothoroughandeloquentarecordofAmeri- canculturaldevelopmentastheNEAhasdone. NTRODUCTION ] PabloCasals performsforPresidentJohn F. Kennedy, Puerto Rican GovernorMunoz Mann, andotherdistinguished guests inthe East RoomoftheWhite House, November13, 1961. (Photoby Robert Knudsen,White House/John Fitzgerald KennedyLibrary)
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