According to one definition, “for Pete’s sake” is “a mild exclamation of surprise [or] annoyance”. In the context of the current administration’s once-stated attempt to defund the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), this use is more than a “mild” exclamation of surprise and annoyance.
However, around May 1, it was learned that the Fiscal 2017 Omnibus Spending bill contains provisions for $150 million in funding for the NEA and another $150 million for the NEH, a $2 million increase over the fiscal ‘16 level. If so, like the reported death of Mark Twain, the demise of these important funding sources for the arts has been greatly exaggerated — very good news for those who consider these dollars well-spent and essential to an informed, humane, and educated society. The Fiscal ‘17 Omnibus Spending Bill also provides an advance appropriation of $445 million to the CPB to include fiscal year 2019.
Those concerned about cuts to the funding of these important entities have received a reprieve for the time being, although it remains important to be vigilant about further proposed reductions in future funding.
Erin Moriarty recently reported on CBS about the impact of those proposed cuts to programs funded by NEA, NEH, and CPB in Letcher County, Kentucky — hit hard by its loss of thousands of jobs in recent years. The Appalachian Community Film Workshop, locally known as Appalshop, was originally created by President Johnson’s War on Poverty to encourage the area’s youth to develop new skills in the arts, specifically filmmaking. Almost half a century later, Appalshop has grown into a thriving arts center in the town of Whitesburg. If funding were cut to the NEH, NEA, and CPB (and to the Appalachian Regional Commission, another funder of this program), Letcher County would lose this valuable asset — along with 18 full-time and five part-time jobs and a million-dollar payroll.
Recently questioned about those proposed cuts, White House Budget Director Mulvaney reportedly answered with a hypothetical question: “Can I really go to those folks, look them in the eye, and say, ‘Look, I want to take money from you and I want to give it to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? …’”
It would be an excellent idea for Mr. Mulvaney to “go to those folks” in Kentucky, to see the results of Appalshop’s funding and to talk with community members about whether or not it enriches their lives. If it does, how? A film project sponsored by Appalshop documented the migration of black families from Alabama to these local coal mining regions in the first half of the 20th century thereby contributing to a better understanding of local history.
The Appalshop director reasonably believes that the federal budget group hasn’t spent enough time understanding where these kinds of resources go and how critical they are to communities like hers. Mr. Mulvaney has the distribution of funding backwards; the federal government allots funds to the CPB through its annual budget, and the CPB then distributes them to local communities.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the Broadway hit Hamilton is a good example of how federally subsidized arts programs can give voice to new and daring talent. Miranda’s first job was interning at a PBS affiliate in New York, and his first musical was work-shopped at the O’Neill Musical Center, partly funded by the NEA.
Like Miranda’s own parents, Letcher County families are often cash-strapped and would be unable to offer their children opportunities in the arts but for places like Appalshop. A local girl, Grace, said that if someone handed her an instrument, she wanted to learn to play it so she was excited to find out she could learn to play the fiddle there. This kind of experience can add a new dimension to a child’s life.
The costs of funding these programs comprise only a tiny fraction (about 0.02%) of the federal budget, but their value is exponentially greater. The director of Appalshop explained that it tries to tell the stories of the people and amplify their voices, their lives, and their stories. She believes that the earlier proposed budget cuts that would adversely affect Appalshop would most hurt the very people who helped elect President Trump; Letcher County statistics indicate that the vote count favored Mr. Trump by 4 to 1.
Although the Russian writer Count Leo Tolstoy is best known for the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, he also wrote What is Art? on the nature, function, and value of art. Like many thinkers, Tolstoy believed that art has a purpose to serve in the life of humanity, is one of the conditions of human life, as well as an important means of intercourse and union among people.
Shared experiences and union are sorely needed in the early months of 2017.
