Legislative Proposal to Cut Funding for the Arts Threatens NEA
February 13, 2011
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is bringing a Continuing Resolution appropriation proposal which includes cutting millions from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) budget. According to the Alliance for the Arts, the amount will be about $22.5 million. According to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriation Committee page, the amount is about $6 million.
Arts advocates are concerned that the legislative proposal may be amended to fully eliminate the NEA during floor debates. To learn more about the campaign to prevent the sever budget cuts and ensure that the NEA survives, click here. NEA’s core programs include: Access to Artistic Excellence, Challenge America: Reaching Every Community, Federal/State Partnerships, and Learning in the Arts. NEA funds dance, design, folk & traditional arts, literature, local arts agencies, media arts, multidisciplinary, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts.
A grant made in partnerhips with the NEA was receved by The International Center of Photography (ICP) this year. The ICP has been awarded a “Save America’s Treasures” grant of $57,425 to support the systematic organization and preservation of negatives, personal papers, and film materials in The Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive at ICP.
“. . . The preservation will help future generations understand the social, political, and cultural history in the United States and abroad, as seen through the eyes of these two legendary photographers,” said Willis E. Hartshorn, Ehrenkranz Director, ICP.
The NEA Chairman, Rocco Landesman was quoted by Art Daily as saying “Art and culture are the expression of our shared values as a society and serve as our collective heritage. [The ICP] treasures remind us who we are as a people and often inspire us to be even more—that is, to exercise even greater creativity.” Here is looking at NEA for decades of ongoing support of the arts and cultural treasures.
