NEWLY REVEALED DOCUMENTS Contradict NEA Chairman Landesman

“The former NEA Director of Communications acted unilaterally and without the approval or authorization of then-Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell.” – Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, on September 22, 2009

Chairman Landesman’s claim that Yosi Sergant, the former NEA Communications Director, acted “unilaterally” on the controversial August 10th conference call is not only beginning to erode, but new documents obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act show that another federal employee thought the arts effort was entering murky legal waters.

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In an email dated July 30, 2009, Nellie Abernathy, a representative of the federal program United We Serve, sent an email to Sergant to inquire of his interest in attending a meeting regarding 9/11 events – the culmination day of the United We Serve campaign. In the email Abernathy states (emphasis added):

“Just got off the phone with [redacted]. They’re interested in helping produce some 9/11 events and will be in DC next week. Any chance you could join us for a meeting Tuesday morning? Or does this fall into that sketchy grey we might get arrested area?”

Sergant responded, “I’d love to.” (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, national endowment for the arts, nea, Nell Abernathy, rocco landesman
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 5:03 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 261522192 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/11/12/newly-released-emails-appear-to-contradict-nea-chair-landesmans-statement/NEWLY+REVEALED+DOCUMENTS+Contradict+NEA+Chairman+Landesman2009-11-12+13%3A03%3A19Patrick+Courrielche

Serve.gov: Buffy Wicks Wasn’t Joking About ‘Being Part of This Administration’

Service to our nation is a noble effort, which is why some may view Serve.gov in a good light. How could anyone think that promoting national service is a bad thing? 

Well, when our government uses “service” as a mechanism to keep their volunteers active in government, it is not so noble. 

I claimed last week that the White House Office of Public Engagement’s rationale for promoting service was to keep Obama’s campaign volunteers active. I also claimed that the White House was using Serve.gov to manage those volunteers and as a mechanism to acquire new volunteers for their use. To support that claim I referenced a statement from Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, on the now infamous August 10th conference call. Wicks explained to the call participants, an arts group that worked on Obama’s 2008 election campaign, the White House’s rationale for using service:  (more…)

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Tags: allforgood, Buffy Wicks, Serve.gov, Volunteer Army
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 at 12:23 pm in Art, Featured Story, Political Humor | 25049838 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/10/22/serve-gov-sampling-buffy-wicks-told-the-truth/Serve.gov%3A+Buffy+Wicks+Wasn%27t+Joking+About+%27Being+Part+of+This+Administration%272009-10-22+19%3A23%3A48Patrick+Courrielche

Part III: Obama Controls Your Television Set — Serve.gov or Serf.dom?

National service and volunteerism is a top priority of both the President and the First Lady. A broad effort has been launched to promote this priority. We’ve seen this in the May 12th White House briefing, the August 10th and 27th art community conference calls, and now in a new effort by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, entitled iParticipate, that is encouraging broadcast media to infuse national service stories into their show plots. The First Lady has even created a video expressing the importance of national service.

All of these efforts are driving would-be volunteers to Serve.gov. The question is, for what purpose?

Buffy Wicks

Encouraging volunteerism is a noble effort undertaken by every US President. However, this Administration’s national service outreach has led on multiple occasions to outright policy advocacy. I’ve shown this throughout my writing on the subject, with a primary focus on the National Endowment for the Arts. However, the Corporation for National and Community Service is playing an even bigger role in this White House effort, and I don’t think general volunteerism is the only goal in mind.  (more…)

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Tags: artists, Buffy Wicks, iParticipate, nea, Nell Abernathy
Posted Oct 15th 2009 at 3:02 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 24659878 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/10/15/obama-controls-your-television-set-part-iii-serve-gov-or-serf-dom/Part+III%3A+Obama+Controls+Your+Television+Set+--+Serve.gov+or+Serf.dom%3F2009-10-15+10%3A02%3A31Patrick+Courrielche

Politicizing the Arts Community: What Did the White House Do Wrong?

The allegations raised in “White House Creates ACORN for the Arts” and prior stories about the NEA enlisting artists who receive government grants to support President Obama’s political goals certainly raise a number of issues.  Foremost among them is whether such actions violate White House policy and potentially federal law.  The White House Counsel was concerned enough about the conference call that it was compelled to issue new guidelines for public outreach meetings, noting that some of the comments on the call may have been “misunderstood as seeking to inappropriately politicize activities of the NEA.”  But beyond violating these White House guidelines, which could result in further forced resignations but little else, what is really at issue with the alleged conduct?

By seeking to enlist the private sector in lobbying for the President’s agenda, the alleged conduct may have violated the Anti-Lobbying Act (18 U.S.C. §1913), which as Ben Shapiro pointed out in a previous piece, explicitly provides:

No part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy or appropriation.

The Anti-Lobbying Act, according to government handbooks, prevents government employees from engaging in “substantial ‘grass roots’ lobbying campaigns … expressly urging individuals to contact government officials in support of or opposition to legislation …. Provid[ing] administrative support for lobbing activities of private organizations”

(more…)

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Tags: Anti-Lobbying Act, Ben Shapiro, Buffy Wicks, Hatch Act, henry waxman
Posted Oct 8th 2009 at 10:01 am in Art, Politics | 243346No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/spakovskyberke/2009/10/08/politicizing-the-arts-community-what-did-the-white-house-do-wrong/Politicizing+the+Arts+Community%3A+What+Did+the+White+House+Do+Wrong%3F2009-10-08+17%3A01%3A06Hans+von+Spakovsky+and+Elliot+S.+Berke

Patrick Courrilche on ‘Glenn Beck’

Patrick Courrielche discussed his pieces here and here with Glenn Beck on Monday. For those of you who missed it, or those of you who want to relive the magic once more:

Part II after the jump. (more…)

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Tags: Buffy, Buffy Wicks, Glenn Beck, Michael Skolnik, nea
Posted Oct 8th 2009 at 12:01 am in Politics, Video | 2428864 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/10/08/patrick-courrilche-on-glenn-beck/Patrick+Courrilche+on+%27Glenn+Beck%272009-10-08+07%3A01%3A13Big+Hollywood

Using Arts for Conservative Purposes

Big Hollywood and Big Government have done tremendous work in recent weeks. They have proved without a doubt that the Obama administration and its allies have gone too far. They’ve crossed the line. Federal agencies are turned into propaganda tools. This is something we haven’t seen in the U.S. since, well, ever. This administration knows no shame. Everything is permissible in order to push its legislative agenda through the collective throat of the American people. And the MSM are covering it all up, refusing to spend time and attention to the ACORN scandal first and now the NEA scandal.

It’s a good thing there are conservatives willing to expose this administration for what it is.

President Obama and Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement

But the question is, what’s next? How can this be countered and how can the Obama administration be forced to back down? As it is, liberal groups, news organizations and individuals continue to cover up for the administration. Perhaps someone will be thrown under the bus again, but the thugs of Team Obama will remain in place and continue to “transform America.”

Exposing their tactics is necessary to fight them, but it’s not enough to actually beat them. Mr. Breitbart and team have learned that the tactics the left has used against conservatives for decades; to discredit them works wonders. But if conservatives want to take back the government, we have to copy the left’s organizing skills as well. (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Andrew Breitbart, big government, big hollywood, breitbart
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 6:08 pm in Art, Politics | 23267065 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mvandergalien/2009/10/05/using-arts-for-conservative-purposes/Using+Arts+for+Conservative+Purposes2009-10-06+01%3A08%3A50Michael+van+der+Galien

The Big Truth: Selling White House Policy Through Art

A few days ago I received a call from my cousin. He’d been hearing some chatter from the family about something happening with a series of NEA articles that I’d written for Big Hollywood and wanted to find out from the horse’s mouth what was going on. His question was simple and concise.

“What did the White House do wrong?” he asked.

“The White House attempted to use federal agencies for political gain,” I blurted out.

President Obama with former NEA Communications Director Yosi Sergant

And that is The Big Truth in a nutshell. A moment of clarity hit me, and as with most eureka moments, a path of how to explain this big truth came into sight. The full story needed to be told – including possible collusion, the White House’s novel mode of operation, and the eventual cover-up – to fully understand and illuminate the government’s intention with their arts effort.

Up until now, I have not discussed Sergant’s former job in the White House Office of Public Engagement, where Buffy Wicks currently resides, because the story had to develop to understand the significance. I also haven’t discussed the email that I received from Michael Skolnik, the moderator of the call, immediately after the publication of the original conference call article – an email that attempted to revise history and the role of the NEA and the White House in the meeting. And what has yet to be discussed is the White House’s recent ability to set up an ArtistCorps, brought into existence with less than 20 words in the Serve America Act. (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, Michael Skolnik, nea, Nell Abernathy, Obama
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 12:34 pm in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 24014674 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/10/05/the-big-truth-selling-white-house-policy-through-art/The+Big+Truth%3A+Selling+White+House+Policy+Through+Art2009-10-05+19%3A34%3A16Patrick+Courrielche

RESPONSE TO NEA CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT: Throwing Yosi Sergant Under the Bus Isn’t an Answer

“Senate confirmed my boss today…and we’re off!” — As posted by Yosi Sergant on Twitter August 7th. 

Those were the words of the former Communications Director of the National Endowment for the Arts three days before the conference call. However Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in a recent statement declared that Yosi Sergant acted “unilaterally and without the approval or authorization” from his superior.

NEA Chair Rocco Landesman 

Taking the Chairman’s statement at face value and moving on would be the easy thing to do. However, the details of the Chairman’s statement need to be addressed. 

First, if the former Communications Director “acted unilaterally and without approval or authorization” from his superior, why is he still working for the NEA? Wouldn’t an act as rogue as bringing together a pro-Obama arts group and encouraging them to create art on health care have triggered an immediate dismissal if it was actually without authorization?  (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, Kalpen Modi, nea, rocco landesman, White House
Posted Sep 24th 2009 at 10:53 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 23479066 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/09/24/response-to-nea-chairmans-statement-throwing-yosi-sergant-under-the-bus-isnt-an-answer/RESPONSE+TO+NEA+CHAIRMAN%27S+STATEMENT%3A+Throwing+Yosi+Sergant+Under+the+Bus+Isn%27t+an+Answer2009-09-24+17%3A53%3A57Patrick+Courrielche

NEA Call Not Meant to ‘Promote Any Legislative Agenda’?

Rocco Landesman

Reiterating the NEA’s denial about the purpose of the notorious August 10, 2009 teleconference, Chairman Rocco Landesman doubled-down Tuesday:

 “Fact 3: ‘This call was not a means to promote any legislative agenda and any suggestions to that end are simply false.”

Two weeks ago, the NEA’s initial denial stated:

“This call was not a means to promote any legislative agenda and any suggestions to that end are simply false.“

 The White House issued its denial on September 9:  (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, conference call, nea, rocco landesman, White House
Posted Sep 24th 2009 at 8:08 am in Art, Politics | 23461460 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/09/24/nea-call-not-meant-to-promote-any-legislative-agenda/NEA+Call+Not+Meant+to+%27Promote+Any+Legislative+Agenda%27%3F2009-09-24+15%3A08%3A40Adam+Baldwin

Buffy The Integrity Slayer

Right, so let’s say you’re Buffy Wicks.  You were the director of the Obama campaign in Missouri, probably doing some “organizing,” you were there during those raucous Texas caucuses, and you were Obama’s California Field Director.  You love you some Barack Obama, and you’re great at what you do, which is rabble rousing, “organizing”.  Now you call it “engaging”.  You were great at this when you went after Walmart for the UFCW Union as political director of the WakeUpWalmart campaign.  Anyway, people noticed, and now that your candidate won, there’s a spot for you in the White House!  In fact, when you visit one of your immediate bosses, whether it’s Christina Tchen or Valerie Jarrett, you probably have to pass the Vice-President and Rahm Emanuel’s office before you reach the stairs to the second floor.  Oops, careful Buffy, because if you walk much past those stairs you could walk right into the Oval Office….you are definitely in the White House!

Anyway, once you get upstairs it’s literally a few short steps to Valerie Jarret’s office.  She’s been crazy busy integrating Van Jones into the new ruling class, so you might pass her office and it’s only one more door to go.  Now you’re at the corner suite of Christina Tschen, Chicago lawyer, long-time Obama crony friend and major fundraiser for his campaign.  She must have raised a lot of dough, because her office is pretty sweet, and it’s right above Barack Obama’s Oval Office.  Cool, huh? (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Buffy Wicks, nea, Obama, Wal-Mart
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 6:16 pm in Art, Politics | 230714129 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jude/2009/09/22/buffy-the-integrity-slayer/Buffy+The+Integrity+Slayer2009-09-23+01%3A16%3A26Jude

Serve.gov Somebody: NEA’s ‘Onramp for Agents of Change’

“It may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord. But, you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” – Bob Dylan

“Rule #7: A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” – Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

For a presidential candidate to dispatch his agents of Change® to recruit artists & entertainers into his campaign is one thing. He understandably wished to avoid becoming old news. Heck, even radical activists get bored. So, to maintain their excitement and involvement, professional community organizers must constantly devise new tactics. And, as so many enjoy smugly reminding us all, “the ‘One’ won!”

Poli-end-zone-dances notwithstanding, for the President of the United States of America to use the power of his Office and the lure of his NEA’s favor, potential grant funds and the ideological “yes, we-can-change-the-world” Hope® & prestige for artists to create promotional propaganda for his Serve.gov & Corporation for National & Community Service partisan political agenda, produces an entirely different pattern and data set. (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, Corporation for National & Community Service, healthcare, healthcare reform, National Endowment for the Arts (NEW)
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 5:58 pm in Culture, Law, News, Politics | 23191432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/09/21/serve-gov-somebody-neas-onramp-for-agents-of-change/Serve.gov+Somebody%3A+NEA%E2%80%99s+%27Onramp+for+Agents+of+Change%272009-09-22+00%3A58%3A36Adam+Baldwin

Limbaugh: White House Using Fed Arts Agency to Push Obama Agenda

From El Rushbo:

Do you remember that NEA phone call? I think it was back in August, the 21st or the 25th, and it featured basically a coordination from the White House to the National Endowment for the Arts to promote Obama’s health care and parts of his domestic agenda. One of the artists on that call got hold of Breitbart and said they’re turning the National Endowment for the Arts and www.Serve.gov, the latest website out of the White House, into political instruments, and there are four pieces written on this at BigGovernment.com. But all it really exposes up ’til now is that the NEA was lying about their coordination with the Obama White House on spreading propaganda. This is the thing that George Will had a comment on This Week, said some laws were broken in this call. Then after some attention was focused on this they announced that the National Endowment for the Arts director of communications Yosi Sargent had been reassigned. They said he was fired but he was actually just reassigned. (more…)

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Tags: Andrew Breitbart, big government, Buffy Wicks, George Will, national endowment for the arts
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 4:00 pm in Art, Culture, News, Politics | 231842No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sullivan/2009/09/21/limbaugh-white-house-using-fed-arts-agency-to-push-obama-agenda/Limbaugh%3A+White+House+Using+Fed+Arts+Agency+to+Push+Obama+Agenda2009-09-21+23%3A00%3A35Sullivan

Taxpayer-Funded Propaganda: The ABC’s of the NEA Conference Call

Today, Big Hollywood released a full audio recording and transcript of the NEA conference call. A full review of the call reveals several new and more troubling aspects to what transpired on the August 10^th phone call. What is inescapable is that the origin of the call reaches into the highest offices of the White House. It is clear, from the transcript, that the call was orchestrated by the Office of Public Engagement, whose Director, Valerie Jarrett, is among the closest advisors to President and First Lady Obama. It is also apparent that Ms. Jarrett’s office directed the involvement of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for National and Community Service, two independent federal agencies. (This is important, as neither is officially part of the executive branch.)

At the very beginning of the call, the general ‘moderator’ of the call, Michael Skolnik, political director for Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons, explains the genesis of the call:

I have been asked by people in the White House and folks in the NEA about a month ago in a conversation that was had. We had the idea that I would help bring together the independent artists community around the country.

This is important, because in the immediate aftermath of the breaking story, the NEA has tried to state that a ‘third party’ organized the call. This clearly isn’t true. The e-mail invitation to the call was sent from Mr. Sargent’s government-provided NEA e-mail address. In addition, as the transcript reveals, Mr. Sloknik was “asked” by the White House and NEA to organize the call.

(more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Americans for the Arts, Barack Obama, Buffy Wicks, Corporation for National and Community Service
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 3:31 pm in Art, Culture, Politics | 231738No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mikeflynn/2009/09/21/taxpayer-funded-propaganda-the-abcs-of-the-nea-conference-call/Taxpayer-Funded+Propaganda%3A+The+ABC%E2%80%99s+of+the+NEA+Conference+Call+2009-09-21+22%3A31%3A56Mike+Flynn

The NEA, The White House, The Lies and The Cover-Up

Big Hollywood today reveals the extensive proof that shows the White House used the National Endowment for the Arts to push a political agenda favorable to President Obama. But it gets worse: the Administration lied about it, and tried to cover it up.

You already know the background: an NEA spokesman participated in a conference call designed to encourage artists to further Obama’s legislative agenda. This was revealed back in August at Big Hollywood. What is new today is the full transcript of the call — and how clearly the NEA was involved in urging artists to propagandize for Obama.

Naturally, the NEA and the Obama administration denied this. According to the Los Angeles Times (in a blog post, of course, and not an actual newsprint story), the NEA denied any purpose to further a legislative agenda:

The NEA issued a statement saying that it took part in the conference to help inform arts organizations about opportunities to sponsor volunteer service projects themselves, or have their members take part in other volunteer efforts. “This call was not a means to promote any legislative agenda, and any suggestions to that end are simply false,” the statement said. (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Buffy Wicks, Def-Jam, health care, Michael Skolnik
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 1:00 pm in Art, Law, News, Politics | 23093873 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/patterico/2009/09/21/the-nea-the-white-house-the-lies-and-the-cover-up/The+NEA%2C+The+White+House%2C+The+Lies+and+The+Cover-Up2009-09-21+20%3A00%3A32Patterico

Propaganda, Health Care and ACORN: Full Context of NEA Conference Call Reveals Disturbing Pattern

At first glance, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) conference call of August 10th, 2009 sounds innocent enough because it’s supposedly been organized by Michael Skolnik, political director for Russell Simmons and someone not officially associated with any government agency. Skolnik appears to be acting independently as a concerned citizen and to have taken it upon himself to gather together a group of artists and art organizations hoping to move them towards “national service.” And how nice of the White House, the federal government and the NEA to make the time to participate in the call and aid this group of American artists motivated to help their country and community.

But this is only how things appear.

All evidence points to the fact that the conference call was a ruse, a front for a White House using Skolnik as a kind of beard in order to put an innocent spin on their abuse of the NEA and two non-partisan volunteer organizations (United We Serve – an initiative overseen by The Corporation for National and Community Service – a federal agency, and the White House’ Office of Public Engagement).

The goal: To motivate a group of hand-picked pro-Obama artists (grant recipients or those wanting grants) to push the President’s flagging agenda, especially health care — and to funnel this promotion through the ACORN related- Serve.gov website. 

***

Documentation gathered by Big Hollywood’s Patrick Courrielche and the Washington Times, coupled with a newly revealed audio recording of the full conference call, points to eight troubling facts that put the full context of the call in a very disturbing light. (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, Buffy Wicks, health care, Michael Skolnik, national endowment for the arts
Posted Sep 21st 2009 at 9:29 am in Art, Politics | 22996691 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/21/propaganda-health-care-and-acorn-full-context-of-nea-conference-call-reveals-disturbing-pattern/Propaganda%2C+Health+Care+and+ACORN%3A+Full+Context+of+NEA+Conference+Call+Reveals+Disturbing+Pattern2009-09-21+16%3A29%3A33John+Nolte

Pregame Report: The NEA Conference Call

On August 25th 2009, Big Hollywood’s Patrick Courrielche broke the story of a conference call he attended with other “rising artist and art community luminaries”:

On Thursday August 6th, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to attend a conference call scheduled for Monday August 10th hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The call would include “a group of artists, producers, promoters, organizers, influencers, marketers, taste-makers, leaders or just plain cool people to join together and work together to promote a more civically engaged America and celebrate how the arts can be used for a positive change!” 

The email invite came directly from Yosi Sergant, then-Director of Communications at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and it advised this hand-picked group that the call was about laying “a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.” 

Courrielche describes the call this way: (more…)

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Tags: 'Health Care Reform, big government, Buffy Wicks, Dana Loesch, George Will
Posted Sep 20th 2009 at 6:43 pm in Art, Politics | 230454221 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mflynnjnolte/2009/09/20/pregame-report-the-nea-conference-call/Pregame+Report%3A+The+NEA+Conference+Call2009-09-21+01%3A43%3A02Mike+Flynn+and+John+Nolte

The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion?

I recently wrote a critique of the art community’s lack of dissent in the face of many controversial decisions made by the current administration. Entitled “The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident,” one of the key points argued in the article was the potential danger associated with the use of the art community as a tool of the state. Little did I know how quickly this concern would be elevated to an outright probability. 

Sometime between when I finished the critique and when it went live online, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to take part in a conference call that invited a group of rising artist and art community luminaries “to help lay a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.”  (more…)

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Tags: "The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident", 'Health Care Reform, Buffy Wicks, Cap and Trade, Lyndon B. Johnson
Posted Aug 25th 2009 at 12:44 pm in Art, Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 209182602 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/08/25/the-national-endowment-for-the-art-of-persuasion-patrick-courrielche/The+National+Endowment+for+the+Art+of+Persuasion%3F2009-08-25+19%3A44%3A51Patrick+Courrielche