Another conference call has materialized, revealing a concerted effort by government to use the arts to address political issues.

Lee Rosenbaum, a blogger for Artsjournal.com, posted her experience with a meeting that occurred on August 27th and confessed that she also felt “uneasy” about the government’s arts effort.  The meeting invitation (viewable here) went out to all “member local, state, and regional arts agencies, community-based arts organizations, and national partners of Americans for Arts.” Americans for Arts is a non-profit arts organization that has received substantial grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

As with my conference call, the art group was invited to the meeting to work together to “tackle some of the nation’s toughest issues: education; health; energy and the environment; community renewal; and safety and security.” Also like my call, it included a private citizen moderating the phone call with key White House representatives participating. Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was to represent the White House and key representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts were also to participate.

Even more disturbing than learning that the White House and NEA are using the arts to address specific issues, is to learn what was discussed on this new conference call. Rosenbaum mentions that there was much talk of “leveraging federal dollars” to get artists and cultural organizations involved in social-service projects.  (more…)

What does it mean when a government official evades the truth?

On August 25th, I published an article discussing a conference call hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve that invited a group of 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.”

In the article I argued that it was not the role of the National Endowment for the Arts to use the arts to address specific issues, especially those of “health care” and “energy and environment” that are being vehemently debated nationally. I also clearly indicated that I was invited by the NEA and questioned their involvement in a meeting of this nature.

Two days later an article was published in the Washington Times that referenced my account of the conference call. Kerry Picket reported in the article that she “asked the NEA for a copy of the invitation to the conference call, but Communications Director for the NEA Yosi Sergant told us that they were not the ones who sent out the invitations for the conference call.” Picket continues, “Mr. Sergant directed us to the Corporation for National and Community Service as the body that sent out the invitations.”  (more…)