Variety: "Say what you will about Rocco Landesman -- and right now, people are saying -- the guy sure knows how to make an entrance.
Even before his swearing-in as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the blunt-talking Broadway producer and until recently head of Jujamcyn Theaters set tongues wagging with comments about his new job’s priorities. He derided current levels of federal arts support as 'pathetic,' and said he would base future grants on artistic merit rather than disbursing money to arts orgs within every congressional district."
2 comments:
This guy has a lot of personality - and it seems that his outspokenness has led to some tiffs about what 'art' and 'theater' really is - however, I think he is the man for the job. His idea for prescribed 'art works' has a twinge of WPA to it - and I think that might be exactly what the arts scene needs: a group of people dedicated to creating art, and a group of patrons willing to support the art - not only for art's sake - but also to support the country financially. I certainly hope this goes somewhere.
Congratulations to Rocco Landesman for being a politician who speaks his mind, that said I don't think honesty gives any one a pass to open their mouth without thinking. Landsman has put his foot in his mouth once or twice, but his straight forward outlining of his positions on policy are refreshing. Especially exciting are his plans to bring back individual artist grants which ceased in response to controversial artwork. Government needs to respect free speech by funding artists whose messages aren't perfectly PC. New ideas can often offend, but without them the art world can stagnate.
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