NEA Gives $16.8 Million to 735 Grantees : Arts grants: Awards to controversial performers Miller, Hughes could renew the debate over funding.

The National Endowment for the Arts awarded nearly $17 million Tuesday to support individuals and artistic programs throughout the country, including an $8,000 fellowship to each of two controversial solo performers whose highly political works contain gay and lesbian messages.

The awarding of Solo Performance Theater Artist Fellowships to Tim Miller of Santa Monica and Holly Hughes of New York, as unanimously recommended by the National Council on the Arts, could renew the heated debate over federal funding for works of art that some regard as offensive.

Acknowledging that possibility, NEA Chairman John E. Frohnmayer, who gave final approval of the fellowships, said philosophically: “We are in a transitional time in terms of our society. And art often holds a mirror to us, allowing us to see what’s going on. Some of it we like, some we don’t. Society hasn’t solved those problems . . . so I think it (the controversy) will go on.”

In all, Frohnmayer approved 735 grants and fellowships, totaling $16.85 million, including $6.2 million to support under-served areas in inner cities and rural regions. Among them are $35,000 to support a “Blues Mobile” in the Mississippi Delta region designed to promote awareness of the local origins of blues music, and $18,000 to the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nev., toward a 1992 presentation on Latino cowboys.

Among the 212 individual recipients are 105 visual artists, 16 composers, 12 musical soloists, 37 museum professionals, 21 design artists and 21 theater artists.

Miller and Hughes were among 19 artists who received the solo performance fellowships, out of 124 applicants. The other recipients include traditional storytellers, vaudevillians and puppeteers.

Miller, 33, has been performing in Los Angeles and New York since 1978. In a statement accompanying his application, the Whittier native said he seeks through his performances to “explore the connection between my personal story as a gay person and social events and activism.”

Hughes has been criticized by some for “World Without End,” a play in which she seeks through a monologue to explore her “complicated relationship” with her late mother. In it, Hughes said, “I talk about being a lesbian, but in such a way that, hopefully, challenges assumptions about the identity and gender for all members of the audience.”

A year ago, both Miller and Hughes had their grant applications approved by the council’s preliminary selection panel only to be rejected by the full council, which is an advisory body to the NEA. Afterward, Miller and Hughes joined two other artists in filing a lawsuit charging that the council had misapplied artistic standards in rejecting their applications. The lawsuit is pending.

Miller said he plans to use the $8,000 fellowship to put the finishing touches on a new performance piece and to further his efforts for artistic freedom, particularly for gay and lesbian artists.

“I’m happy that (NEA Chairman John) Frohnmayer gave us the money. On a personal level that’s all cheery. It will help keep body and soul together,” Miller said.

This year, Miller and Hughes finished second and fourth, respectively, among the 124 applications, according to Frohnmayer. Previously, both Miller and Hughes have received other NEA grants.

Because of the controversial nature of their work, Frohnmayer said on Tuesday, he alerted the White House to the impending announcement as a courtesy.

Unlike grants, fellowships are awarded not for a specific product but for the development of an artistic talent.

“I hope they will not be vilified simply for who they are . . . and without some substance,” Frohnmayer said of Miller and Hughes.