Sunday, January 11, 2009
Should U.S. Have Minister Of The Arts?
Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily: "According to an email making the Hollywood rounds, Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts."
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6 comments:
YES YES YES. Sign this petition. Drawing as much attention as we can to federal support of the arts is so important. The arts in schools are always the first to go in budget cuts. Signing this petition will help send the message that the arts are important to many people and should not be ignored.
Most other countries with government structures similar to that of the U.S. have some sort of ministry of culture or the arts. We definitely need to put more focus on arts education and development as a nation!
I agree that this country needs to focus more on arts education and funding than it currently does. In my opinion the arts are what makes us human, they are one of the purest results of the unique synaptic processes in our brains. Because of the economic situation plaguing our country, schools have stated cutting arts education because of the expense and the lack of anything else to cut. A Secretary of Arts and Culture may be exactly what this country needs. If we don't get one, maybe the debate alone will be enough to focus the country.
I have to admit it: Yes. The funding brought in by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts is not nearly enough to do much. For the total amount of artists in this country, there should be more political funding, however, the question of censorship will always arise with taxpayer funding for the Arts.
Frankly, I don't think it's the best idea--at least for the time facing us now. The economy has put us all in such a tough place for sure, but it has done that to everyone. Certainly the arts are, and will probably always be, under-funded in some way. I think in our present day situation, more money should be put into fixing our economy and increasing spending in that way, rather than permanently adding another person's permanent salary.
Once things get around and fixed, however, this would be a very interesting idea and I'd be curious to see what it could do for the arts in the country. We all know we could stand the funding :)
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