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By Makoto Fujimura
This week, the Congressional Arts Caucus will offer an amendment to increase
NEA funding by $10 million during floor consideration of the Interior
Appropriations bill. This small increase for the N.E.A. will be a vote
of confidence in what Chair Dana Gioia has accomplished in the first year
of his term. If the N.E.A.'s newfound momentum is now diminished, desired
by some conservatives, many local initiatives and their favorable economic
impact on communities, especially in the heartlands of America, will be
lost. Our greatest arts and cultural institutions will inevitably suffer
and we will have less to offer a watching world.
I have witnessed Mr. Gioia's untiring advocacy for the arts, and his list
of
accomplishments in a single year has been one of the most hopeful signposts
for cultural stewardship in this great nation. Arts advocacy is not a
conservative or liberal agenda: it is the agenda of any great nation,
of any civilized society.
America has birthed some of the world's most significant and celebrated
artists and art forms in our short history. Music, dance, theatre,
sculpture, painting have all been enriched by American contributions.
But
her greatest "art" is her democracy: this art form is indeed
a great
experiment and one that should be challenged and polished. As we plead
for democratic ideals all over the world, we need to remember that the
most convincing proof of the fruit of democracy can be found in our own
museums, concert halls, and arts curriculum.
The legacy of jazz and blues, of the Hudson River school painters, and
Martha Graham dance incarnate our democratic promises, and they declare,
in themselves, our independence from tyranny and terrorism. Contemporary
visual arts masters like Tara Donovan and Tim Hawkinson quote common experiences
and transform everyday objects into surprising and delightful installations.
Their art brings transcendent vision into ordinary, and therefore democratic,
experiences. America has successfully imported world cultures and protected
their legacies. The N.E.A.'s National Heritage Awards celebrate crafts
that have found safe haven here, leaving lasting imprints on our own soil.
The works of Shakespeare, one our greatest imports, still continue to
inspire and provide an artistic engagement for millions of Americans,
from the lawns of Central Park, to the blight of inner city Los Angeles.
Rafe Esquith, a National Medal of Arts recipient this year for his efforts
among the Hobart Elementary School children of inner city Los Angeles,
challenges immigrant children, many of whom do not speak English, to
memorize and perform Shakespeare. In the recent ceremony announcing
"American Masterpieces," a new N.E.A. initiative to bring masterpieces
of visual art, dance and music to American cities, regional museums and
schools, the First Lady and other guests sat in awe as two of Mr. Esquith's
students performed Henry the Fifth. Beyond knowing their demanding lines,
they gave life to the words and elevated us all in the audience. Their
childlike but confident orations had a beauty and a deeper resonance,
something that this nation desperately needs to hear and understand today
when these sounds are too often drowned by crass commercial noise. Our
children's voices can be elevated, drawing the world's attention to excellence,
and the nobility of civilization.
If American expression is democratic in vision, then we need to also support
it in a democratic fashion. The National Endowment for the Arts allows
ordinary citizens to be patrons of the arts in a unique way. We are all
patrons of something by default. We can patronize products of mass culture,
to the neglect of our great heritages. We can patronize Super Bowl half
time exhibitionism, or future Duke Ellingtons.
Some have questioned the role of government in funding the arts: they
tell us that they support the arts but do not think government should
be
involved. Arts thrived fine, they tell us, before we had the N.E.A., and
corporations and individuals should take the patronage responsibility.
But
government funding is much needed for taking the longer, historical view
of the arts. America now has a splendid cultural past, on top of being
a leader in cultural production. This is a new form of arts leadership
that may not have been needed in our nascent history. Now, our past can
be celebrated via the arts, and this memory elevates our future expressions.
This double-edged sword for arts advocacy may be the greatest export and
signature for the advancement of democracy.
As a vice president of General Foods more than ten years ago, Mr. Gioia
managed a marketing budget for Jello that was more than our new N.E.A.
budget today, a sad reflection of the value we place on our culture. Even
traditionally arts friendly National Public Radio has cut most of their
music programming in lieu of news-oriented programs. We need to examine
new ways to patronize and empower people through the arts. Indeed, compared
to countries like Japan and Finland, our budget for the arts looks shockingly
miniscule, and hardly fit for a great nation.
American novelist Herman Melville wrote, "Real strength never impairs
beauty or harmony, but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly
beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic." America, in her
democratic strength, should bestow harmony and beauty upon the world,
as a living masterpiece. Every American can celebrate the arts as one
of our most important strengths, and bestow this gift to the next generation.
July
15th, 2004
Makoto Fujimura is an artist and a National Council on the Arts member
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