The Arts in America—Our New National Product

The arts have been extolled in recent official rhetoric, including speeches of three Presidents, as essential to the quality of American life. Public demands on arts organizations for cultural and educational services have increased their work load without increasing their income—the reverse is true, that their deficits have grown larger. The arts in America are private in origin and independent in character, but they must now turn to the public sector for major subsidy support, or falter. Are the arts important enough to warrant up to $200 million a year in federal funds, and higher amounts in future decades? The writer declares in the affirmative, taking due note of the risks of political interference and of the fact that there exists a substantial degree of public lethargy. The American audience for music, theatre, dance, and for art galleries and museums is limited, but growing. If the arts are for the few today, they are available to the many. Stages for the performing arts abound in the form of old and new performing arts centers. Artists, especially our American artists, are in good supply. The central question is that of the national attitude toward them and the nation's willingness to sustain them.