With Script Revised, Arts Backers Seek U.S. Funds

On leave from movie making and music recording for a two-day trip to Washington, Hollywood actors and musicians headlined a congressional breakfast Tuesday to push for increased federal funding for the arts and art education.

Actors William Baldwin, who is president of the nonprofit Creative Coalition, and Hector Elizondo, rapper Chuck D and other artists spoke with lawmakers about the importance of the arts to all Americans--and how Sept. 11 underscored the power of the arts to heal.

The visit was part of Arts Advocacy Day, hosted by Americans for the Arts, an umbrella group of organizations that works to increase the visibility of the arts. The organization also recognized Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Long Beach) with its Government in the Arts Award for his role in saving the National Endowment for the Arts from elimination.

Horn, along with Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-N.Y.), chairs the bipartisan Congressional Arts Caucus. Horn, who is retiring at the end of the year, also helped lead the congressional effort that increased funding for the NEA by $10 million.

“He will leave a legacy that included nothing less than the preservation of America’s federal cultural agencies and broadened access to the arts and humanities for every American,” said Robert Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts.

Members of the Hollywood delegation noted that the atmosphere in Congress had changed significantly from the days when NEA funding was endangered by some conservative lawmakers who objected to art they said was obscene or sacrilegious.

“We’ve been very successful the past few years in reversing a climate that was not favorable to the arts,” Baldwin said.

The groups said they were encouraged by the Bush administration’s 2003 budget. Despite constraints, Bush has requested a $117-million appropriation for the NEA in his 2003 budget, compared to $115 million approved by Congress last fiscal year, according to NEA figures.

Baldwin said it is the responsibility of those in the entertainment industry to use their access to the media and Congress to benefit the arts.

“We live in sort of a celebrity-crazed culture,” he said. “Our mantra is to use the voice given to us.”

Rapper Chuck D said the artists hope to convince Congress to help make art education part of the core curriculum in public schools, on a par with academics. More children, he said, need to know that art is not simply the popular culture sold by corporations to meet their bottom line.

“If [kids] know about the arts and are introduced to them at a young age, they can then basically deal all over the world,” he said.

The groups also cited research compiled by Americans for the Arts indicating that art instruction is linked to increased academic achievement and decreased criminal behavior.

The celebrities said the federal government’s involvement, while a small portion of overall arts funding in the country, is necessary because it provides leadership and stimulates growth in the arts industry.

For their part, the celebrities spoke of the continuing need to bring the country together after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“Artistic expression helped heal communities,” Elizondo said. “Can you imagine where we would be without it?”