THE ARTS

NEA Legislation: A joint committee of the U.S. House and Senate voted Thursday to accept alternate language to Sen. Jesse Helms’ (R-N.C.) amendment that would forbid the National Endowment for the Arts from providing grants to artists who create “patently offensive” art. The substitute amendment, introduced by Rep. Sidney Yates (D-Ill.), would deny funding “obscene” art, but set “artistic merit” as the overriding standard. Yates assigned the courts with the sole authority to determine obscenity. The amendment will be presented to both the House and Senate next week. Wednesday, the House, in a non-binding vote, voted 286-135 to accept the Helms language.