To Sarah Palin: Actually, art does matter to the economy
Art critic Christopher Knight didn't take kindly to Sarah Palin's description of the National Endowment for the Arts as a "frivolous" waste of tax dollars during the current economic climate.
Actually, Knight countered on The Times' art blog Culture Monster, "the nonprofit arts and culture industry supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166.2 billion in annual economic activity, according to Americans for the Arts. The NEA is one linchpin in that sizable economy." Not to mention that "the government of every major civilization in world history has also prominently funded the arts."
Cutting funding to the arts has also been an issue at the state level. In his budget proposal for Kansas, for instance, Gov. Sam Brownback eliminated money for the Kansas Arts Commission, suggesting that the commission become a private nonprofit instead. To state Sen. Roger Reitz, a fellow Republican, this was a spectacularly bad idea, and he’s gone up against Brownback (ref: Senate Resolution #1819, "Senate saves arts commission's future") and argued that art not only enriches culture and makes our lives more interesting but is also good for the economy. Here's a snippet from his conversation with Kurt Andersen on "Studio 360," though the whole clip is worth the listen.
The Kansas nonprofit art sector is a $153.3 million industry, which supports over 4,000 jobs and generates over $15 million in state and local government revenues.
The loss of the Kansas Arts Commission totals a loss to the state of over $1.2 million each year, and without funding from the state to match the federal dollars ... Kansas loses $778,000.
Beyond economic policy and culture, for scientist Daniel J. Levitin, art also inspires curiosity and pushes us to become full human beings. In his case, human beings with good jobs in innovative, important fields. Here he is explaining in Wednesday's Op-Ed Saved by the (sax's) bell:
[Playing the saxophone in the school jazz band] also awakened in me a curiosity about how things work in general, which is what eventually led me to become a scientist who studies the workings of neurons in the human brain.
We now know through neuroscience research that playing a musical instrument confers a number of advantages to cognitive development, especially in training attentional networks.
[…] I hope the next generation of public school kids gets the same opportunity the state of California gave me to discover things about themselves and the world through music.
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--Alexandra Le Tellier
Photo: Sarah Palin. Credit: Justin Lane / EPA
So I guess we should fund the Nevada Cowboy Poetry Festival. See JT's hilarious comments at www.alittleleftofright.com
Posted by: Rick Germond | March 17, 2011 at 12:16 PM
I routinely screen people for hire. The least qualified applicants are consistently the ones with no arts education or interest in the arts (yes, this includes engineers). We need dynamic, flexible, creative problem solvers, and with no arts education, the human brain is underdeveloped.
Posted by: Lee B. | March 17, 2011 at 01:29 PM
An artist is a nonconformist.
A tyrant attempts to force a conformity.
As long as there are tyrants, there will be artists.
Posted by: Steve Consilvio | March 17, 2011 at 01:33 PM
Trust Ex-half Governor Know-Nothing to offer her unsolicited opinion on a subject of which she, you guessed it, knows nothing whatsoever.
Posted by: GM | March 17, 2011 at 01:36 PM
"The government of every major civilization in world history has also prominently funded the arts."
This quote is insupportable drivel that should not be spouted by the critic of a major paper, even in a moment or ire, nor repeated again within the same pages.
Please tell me about how the Mongolian Empire government as a whole, not the ruling Khans, prominently funded the arts?
The type of government funded support of the arts that exists today cannot be equated to the palaces and portraits that were financed and constructed to glorify and legitimize the rulers of major historical civilizations.
The buildings of Versailles and the Marie de Medici Cycle do not constitute government funded art; they are works funded privately by individuals who themselves effectively constituted the government.
Posted by: Elegabalus | March 17, 2011 at 03:21 PM
This really does top it all and make Palin a punchline. The public is finally coming around to seeing the true Sarah Palin. Only an individual with the ignorance of Palin would trash an organization such as the NEA. I was compelled to create a visual commentary about all of her negative rhetoric and its effects on my artist's blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/01/sarah-palin-made-me-do-it.html Drop by and let me know what you think.
Posted by: Brandt | March 17, 2011 at 04:37 PM
My outright hate for Sarah Palin has become pity....her life must be so sad, common place and reflective of her low-brow upbringing that she's obviously so ashamed of, that she has to trash and bad mouth anything that smacks of the "elitists" that made her use the delivery entrance when she was young.
As my mother would say, "feel sorry for the poor thing....but cross the street when you see her coming"
Posted by: Mark | March 17, 2011 at 11:07 PM
One of the greatest gifts we human's posses is the ability to create. Whether that be physics-bending structures or sublime musical arrangements, to stifle anyone's creative intuition would be a travesty for both humanity and our nation.
Posted by: Scott | March 18, 2011 at 09:00 AM
Money follows art. Artists lived/worked in Carmel; Carmel became wealthy. Same with Venice. If you want a prosperous community, make it friendly to artists.
As far as art in the schools, in addition to the cognitive advantages conferred on music students, anything that gives kids a reason to show up is a good thing, whether that's football, surfing teams, or marching band.
Posted by: Marina Stern | March 18, 2011 at 09:04 AM
It's been unfortunate that the NEA's support of the (VERY FEW) kind of people who push the line from art into the realm of distasteful extremes got the most attention.
The NEA as pointed out, have been the launch pads of exceptional artists expanding their talents into teaching, profit and marketing and intercultural exchange.
Poorer children, unable to afford dance, music, creative writing or design training would benefit at that level, and could benefit society later on. It is through the arts we become one as a nation and culture whether as participant or patron.
Sports programs have a limit in so many ways as to who can participate, but the arts is far more expansive and inclusive than any other pursuit.
Any artistic degradation can be blamed on lack of exposure to the greatest the arts has to offer, as well as lack of the training or interest to support it.
Sarah Palin (and her family) exemplify that.
Posted by: Regan DuCasse | March 18, 2011 at 09:55 AM
You made no argument...
This is about federal funding. Federal funding Obama abused.
Posted by: Selawo | March 18, 2011 at 08:52 PM
How about we here in California stop sending Alaska federal dollars? Don't we get $0.85 for every dollar we put in, while Alaska gets $1.87 for every dollar they put in? That seems like a reasonable budget cut to me. Welfare Republican States take notice!
Posted by: zkwc in topanga | March 19, 2011 at 01:35 AM
Catterall, J. (1998). Involvement in the arts and success in secondary school. Americans for the Arts Monographs, 1 (9), Washington, D.C.
This study draws on data collected from more than 25,000 students contained in the 10-year database of the National Educational Longitudinal Survey. The author examines the relationships between students’ arts participation and their achievement, attitudes, and behavior in secondary school. The analysis establishes a significant correlation between eighth and 10th grade students’ arts activities and their grades, standardized test scores, staying in school, and being interested in school. This study lays the groundwork for a viable rationale for arts inclusion in the schools. . . . the research show than an arts-rich learning environment is associated with a host of positive educational measures. The study connects the arts to academics and to other “valued-added” outcomes. (Winner, Critical Links, p. 68)
Posted by: LarryLinn | March 19, 2011 at 04:26 AM
frivolus education of the palin brood is a waste of our tax dollars. palin 4 dogcatcher!!!!!(she caught toad)
Posted by: carol | March 19, 2011 at 06:54 AM
Was there ever a more narcissistic, moronic ,uninformed woman as Sarah Palin, who has gotten as far as she has in national politics?! She is to be pitied, but so are all of poor judges of character, who actually supported her, thought she was "one of them" and to this day and with all evidence to the contrary, still think she should run the country.
She has been a train-wreck and I, for one, am thankful that there are still enough thinking Americans out there who are waking up and smelling the coffee ( or tea) and are saying to themselves, "What was I thinking?!" A pretty face isn't enough, nor is a PhD in Snarkiness or a Buzz-saw voice (I am SO relieved not to have to listen to that voice,anymore!!)
I do think that one of the best moves that we could make, having learned our lesson now, is to formulate a list of minimal requirements for the job of President and make it a law.
How did a woman of her caliber ever get the right to waste the money, time and energy of hard-working citizens in this country, who are honestly taking the time to listen to the candidates, trying to delineate the issues and sort out the problems as they relate to their lives, so they can be educated voters?
I blame John McCain for stooping so low and the Republican party and the media who have been complicate in lowering their standards, just to titillate and entertain their audiences, be it in television, radio, magazines or newspapers or online.
We have to come out of the gutter in this country and insist on higher standards, when it comes to our lives.....and our politicians do play a large roll in how we will survive and prosper again, in America.
Posted by: VICTORY | March 22, 2011 at 01:01 AM