COUNTERPUNCH LETTERS : The Challenge to Free Expression in Art

It is unfortunate that Dolo Brooking has adopted the position of a censor in order to save artists from the censors (“NEA Mandate More Than Just Looking at Slides,” Sept. 5). It is a disastrous mistake for supporters of art to rationalize censorship in support of freedom. The challengers to freedom of speech and expression must be met head on with the rational arguments of those who believe that the arts represent freedom and that the artists who are revered by their peers have something valuable to say to America.

To determine grants based on wide popular appeal would ensure that our NEA grants would go to the writers of the most popular television shows and hit movies. That is not the purpose of the NEA. It is precisely for the non-commercial work that these funds are designed.

We have allowed the religious right to frame the question of public funding of the arts. Those of us who believe in the healing and enlightening power of art must tackle these opponents of freedom directly. The enemies of the NEA only use such artists as Andres Serrano as a rallying cry. Their ultimate goal is not to stop Serrano but to stop the NEA entirely.

We must not hide in equivocation, hoping that if we sacrifice the eccentric artist next door, they’ll leave the rest of us in peace--they won’t. We must not fall back in a defensive posture, but, instead, point out how ludicrous and undemocratic it is to insist that all funded art must be mainstream.

Finally, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and his crew are simply wrong about how average Americans view art. Americans want public funding of the arts. In a Harris Poll of a few years ago, “Americans and the Arts,” more than 50% of the people surveyed stated that they would be willing to pay an additional $15 a year in taxes to support the arts. More than 70% were willing to pay an additional $5 a year.

Americans currently pay less than 70 cents per person per year toward the arts, less than any other industrialized country. It is to our shame that we have allowed the religious right to reduce the wonderful role art plays in our society.

PETER ELLENSTEIN

Managing Director

Los Angeles Repertory Company

Los Angeles