Obama’s ‘Arts Agenda’

by Larry O'Connor

During the 2008 campaign many of my earnest and passionate friends on the left kept bludgeoning me with the same mantra:  ”Obama is the first Presidential candidate to have an ARTS AGENDA!”  This fact seemed to make him immune from any other criticism with regard to minor issues like the economy or the war on terror.  Whether the “Arts Agenda” was actually significant or effective or even a good idea seemed beside the point.  Obama cared about artists and my friends in the theatre had spent way too long feeling neglected by their president.

obama-art

To be sure, Candidate Obama did put forth an “Arts Agenda” which mostly consisted of increased funding for the NEA and health care for independent artists who work from project to project outside of a normal, W-2 type of job.  At the moment, the all-important “Art Agenda” is no longer found on the still-active campaign website, but it did exist at one time, and you hear reference to this President’s “Arts Agenda” cropping up in all discussions in the artistic community including the infamous NEA conference calls from last month.

But now, with proper perspective, perhaps my artistic friends can see that the true “Arts Agenda” of this President is an agenda to USE artists to continue to promote HIS agenda.

Take a quick look over at the White House’s web page where the President lays out his issues.  When you highlight the “Issues” menu item at the top of the main page, you see a list of 22 issues highlighted by this President, but nowhere are the Arts listed.  On the last menu item, “Additional Issues” you finally find a reference to the Arts:

Our nation’s creativity has filled the world’s libraries, museums, recital halls, movie houses, and marketplaces with works of genius. The arts embody the American spirit of self-definition. As the author of two best-selling books — Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope — President Obama uniquely appreciates the role and value of creative expression.

That’s right, my friends.  The clearly articulated “Arts Agenda” detailed on the White House’s website is really nothing more than a plug for Obama’s two books!  I’m surprised he didn’t include hyper-links to Amazon.

When I first brought up the subject of the NEA Conference Calls to my group of friends in the theatre who lean to the left end of the spectrum, a lighting designer friend of mine commented to me that it is nothing new for an administration to use all of the tools at their disposal to push their agenda, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Reading the transcripts of the NEA Conference Calls and seeing the President’s “Arts Agenda” I can see now that my friend has used an apt description for artists who blindly follow this President and don’t question his use of artists in pushing his policies:  Tools.  Yes, tools, each and every one of them.


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Posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 8:13 am in Art, Politics | 60 Comments