February 18, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The arts critic Tyler Green is calling the decision made by Congress last week to include $50-million for the National Endowment for the Arts in the federal stimulus package “hogwash,” in his Modern Art Notes blog.
“How silly is $50-million?” says Mr. Green, a freelance writer who lives in Washington. Criticizing the NEA as “timid” and “ancillary,” he suggests an alternative approach to engaging the federal government in support of American culture: think tanks.
“The arts should join Washington’s think-tank culture,” says Mr. Green. “Smart arts thinkers would have the opportunity to be involved in policy debates, to develop new ideas about how government should be involved in the arts.”
Garnering the support of arts philanthropists to aid arts policy fellows at major think tanks, Mr. Green believes, will eventually lead to policy changes and “burrow cultural thinkers and backers into the culture of Washington influence, building a baseline of support for the arts amongst policy makers who work in a range of fields.”
Read more about the gains and losses by charities and foundations in the measure signed by President Obama last week.
