Federal Support for the Arts has a Future

As one who has been intimately involved for 23 years with the federal programs that support the arts in this country, I have been particularly concerned about recent Reagan administration efforts to reduce the budgets of the National Endowments for the Arts and for the Humanities and to lessen their impact on our cultural scene. The administration's approach to federal arts policy began with some basic misconceptions about the sources of the impressive growth that took place in the sixties and seventies in both the number and quality of American cultural institutions. Moreover the administration contended that as government support for the arts increased, there was a decrease in moneys from the private sector. Statistics seem to indicate that the opposite is true. The federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts has had a major impact in aiding and expanding our nation's cultural institutions. Much of this effect has been achieved in partnership with private resources. This critical government role as catalyst and facilitator must continue to spark increased nonfederal support for the arts.