If I Ran The NEA...

The Los Angeles Times asked a variety of artists and celebrities what they would do if they were the new chief of the National Endowment for the Arts. I've posted a few below. Make sure your read the rest and the many comments on this article! Unfortunately, Ann Coulter is one of the people they asked. Feel free to skip over her nonsense.

What would you do if you ran the NEA?

Edward Albee

Here is my proposal for a correction on the procedures of the National Endowment for the Arts.

At present, 90% of the money given to the NEA does not go to creative artists -- it goes to institutions and buildings; a kind of "Edifice Complex." Maybe 10% of it goes to the people who do the work that fills these buildings. This is a preposterous distortion of values. Not only should 90% of the money go to creative artists who, if need be, would be perfectly happy to work outdoors, but it should be creative artists who are making the choices as to which creative artists should be given these awards.

I have testified several times before congressional committees in Washington -- especially during my membership on the board of the New York State Council on the Arts -- and I have been continually shocked at the suspicion and hostility displayed by some members of the Congress to makers of the creative act. Maybe if they were writers, composers and visual artists themselves, things would be better.

Noah Wyle

If I were NEA chief, I would hope to remember this: While the "nonprofit" arts industry enriches the cultural aspects of our society, we are not a charity. We are businesses that give fantastic return on invested dollars. In 2005, we had 2.6 million full-time employees. We expended $63.1 billion and generated $6.3 billion in local and state taxes. Our work generated an additional $103 billion for local merchants and their communities (sustaining 3.1 million jobs and over $16 billion in local, state and federal taxes). I would tell everyone I meet to invest in us. We give great economic stimulus to every community where we work.

Kate Burton

If I ran the NEA I would look carefully at the truly deserving arts organizations out there that serve their communities the most effectively. I would also consider giving grants to individual artists who have contributed startling new work to encourage them. In these desperate economic times, the arts are more essential than ever before. Of the six plays I have acted in in the last 12 months, five of them have been at not-for-profit theaters in five different cities and towns. From New York City to the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts to Sag Harbor on Long Island to Los Angeles to Boston, these theaters have all contributed to the rich cultural life of the community. Judging by the responses of the audiences, the power of art helps us weather these hard times.

Bill Maher

If I ran the NEA? I'd abolish it. I'd be the Gorbachev of federal arts endowing and destroy my own job as the head of it. Artists are so self-important -- art is basic to human nature, it will always be produced and does not need the government's help. The NEA is a perfect example of Mission Creep: The government's job is to protect you, from external enemies and internal criminals, and to maintain roads, schools, and a social safety net. Art is far afield, and in no danger of going away without government money or guidance.