Opinion: The Arts Need to Build a Stronger Case

In a Wall Street Journal column, the composer and classical-music critic Greg Sandow warns arts advocates not to take too much comfort from the restoration of $50-million for the National Endowment for the Arts in the final stimulus bill.

Despite that victory, Mr. Sandow writes, arts advocates need to find new, stronger arguments for financing. He notes that claims of a strong economic ripple effect from cultural institutions can be made with equal validity about other businesses and industries, and adds that arts backers must overcome perceptions that they “largely serve an upscale audience.”