O.C. PLATFORM : Arts Are Essential

Art is an essential service. I understand the argument about feeding the poor and housing the homeless and helping people with AIDS. All these are very deep-seated issues. But I think that it is a spiritual mistake to omit the arts as an essential part of the life of this country.

The arts from many points of view have really come into their own in the United States. America has taken its place on the world stage as a producer of artists--look at the number of terrific performers in all the arts fields--but we have not kept pace in terms of promoting the arts.

We owe it to the talent that is in this country, we owe what we can contribute to the artistic traditions of the world, to do whatever we can to expedite American art and artists. And I am a firm believer that it needs to be done at all levels: privately, municipally, on the state and certainly on the national level.