September 14, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Arts and State Governments: At Arm’s Length or Arm in Arm?, by Julia F. Lowell and Elizabeth Heneghan Ondaatje, explores the relationship between politics and state arts organizations. The report draws from a larger study commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, which looked at “the changing missions and roles” of state arts agencies. Using data from that study, this publication describes how, in keeping policy makers from exerting undue political influence, the agencies effectively removed themselves from the political process, which resulted in less government money for the arts. Two case studies, of the Montana Arts Council and the Maine Arts Commission, show how the organizations built closer ties to governments, as well as the risks associated with such collaboration.
Publisher: RAND, Customer Service, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, Calif. 90407-2138; (877) 584-8642; fax (412) 802-4981; order@rand.org; http://www.rand.org; 68 pages; $20; ISBN 0-8330-3867-2.
