The Ninety-Second American Assembly May 29 -June 1,1997 Arden House Harriman, New York THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY This report is a public document and may be reproduced without permission. PREFACE On May 29, 1997, seventy-eight men and women gathered at Arden House, in Harriman, New York, for the Ninety-second American Assembly entitled "The Arts and the Public Purpose." The participants included artists, arts executives, critics, busi- ness men and women, foundation officers, academics, politicians, and policy makers — from all over the country; from the commer- cial, not-for-profit, and "unincorporated" worlds; and from the left, middle, and right of politics. (This Assembly used the word "unincorporated," to reflect a range of citizen-based, often avoca- tional, arts in their many manifestations.) Consistent with The American Assembly's meeting format, the participants represent- ed a broad spectrum of views and interests. For three days the participants examined the arts as a sector in American life and the extent to which the arts meet the public purposes of the American people. This Assembly then identified a number of measures that, if implemented, would enable artists and artistic enterprises both to meet public purposes better and to flourish. Frank Hodsoll, former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, and Alberta Arthurs, former director for Arts and Humanities at the Rockefeller Foundation, served as co-chairs. Daniel Ritter, former counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities, was the director of this Assembly. Margaret J. Wyszomirski, professor of political science and director of the Arts Management Program at Case Western Reserve University, served as the chair of the project's steering committee. Joni Maya Cherbo was the research director for this Assembly; the titles of the commissioned essays and commentaries that she edited are listed at the end of this report. The Assembly expects these essays to be published as a book, which will be edited by Joni Maya Cherbo and Margaret J. Wyszomirski. In addition, eighty not-for-profit and commercial service organizations and trade associations were asked to identify short- and long-term issues in their fields; their helpful responses and materials were bound as a book for the participants. The participants also received a book of previously published articles and essays select- ed from publications throughout the nation that related to the issues in their discussions. -1- W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. will publish a book by the project's co-chairs, Alberta Arthurs and Frank Hodsoll, on the central issues of this Assembly. During the Assembly, participants heard three panel presenta- tions, which provided additional background and informed the participants' discussions. The first panel set the parameters for the meeting and was moderated by Daniel Ritter, with Alberta Arthurs, Alison Bernstein, Frank Hodsoll, and Margaret J. Wyszomirski. The second, entitled "Commercial and Not-for- profit Arts Nexus," was moderated by Mark Rosenthal and included Jane Alexander, Harvey Lichtenstein, David Henry Hwang, and William Ivey as panelists. The last, on "Views from the Field," was moderated by William Honan, with panelists Sam Campana, Jeffrey Cunard, Murray Horwitz, and Maria-Rosario Jackson. At the final evening plenary session, there were presen- tations by Robert Pinsky, poet laureate of the United States, and Pat Alger, songwriter and recording artist. We gratefully acknowledge funding support for this project by: Major Funders AT&T Foundation The Ford Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation Robert Sterling Clark Foundation The J. Paul Getty Trust The Henry Luce Foundation Funders The Coca-Cola Foundation Thomas S. Kenan, III Institute for the Arts The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation The Overbrook Foundation The New York Times Company Foundation Time Warner Inc. We would like to express our appreciation for the fine work of the discussion leaders and rapporteurs in guiding participants in their sessions and preparing the first draft of this report; Jeffrey Cunard, Catherine French, William Glade, Nicolas Kanellos, Kevin Mulcahy, and Barbara Robinson were indispensable. We -2- owe our special gratitude to the project's co-chairs, Alberta Arthurs and Frank Hodsoll, and the chair of its steering com- mittee, Margaret J. Wyszomirski, for the work that they did in bringing the report to its final form. The American Assembly takes no position on any subjects pre- sented here for public discussion. In addition, it should be noted that the participants took part in this meeting as individuals and spoke for themselves rather than for the organizations and institutions with which they are affiliated. The text of this report is available on The American Assembly's home page on the World Wide Web (www.columbia.edu/ cu I amassembly I ') , along with information about other Assembly programs. David H. Mortimer The American Assembly •3- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries http://archive.org/details/artspublicpurposOOamer FINAL REPORT of the NINETY-SECOND AMERICAN ASSEMBLY At the close of their discussions, the participants in the Ninety-second American Assembly, on "The Arts and the Public Purpose," at Arden House, Harriman, New York, May 29 - June 1, 1997, reviewed as a group a preliminary draft of this report. While not everything that follows was endorsed by everyone, this report reflects general agreement as to the results of this Assembly. The Arts and the Public Purpose EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Arts in American Life. The Ninety-second American Assembly defined the arts inclusively — in a spectrum from commercial to not-for-profit to volunteer, resisting the conven- tional dichotomies of high and low, fine and folk, professional and amateur, pop and classic. This Assembly affirmed the interde- pendence of these art forms and the artists and enterprises that create, produce, present, distribute, and preserve them, and underscored, in particular, the interdependence of the commer- cial and not-for-profit arts. This Assembly saw the arts sector as a large, ubiquitous, eco- nomically and socially significant aspect of American public life, comparable in scale and importance to other sectors of American life, such as the health, education, and science sectors. The Public Purposes of the Arts. The Ninety-second American Assembly identified the broad public purposes served by the arts and the specific ways in which the arts can and do meet the needs of the nation and of all Americans. Specifically, this Assembly identified four public mandates addressed by the arts: -5- 1. The arts help to define what it is to be an American — by building a sense of the nation's identity, by reinforcing the reality of American pluralism, by advancing democratic values at home, and by advancing democratic values and peace abroad. 2. The arts contribute to quality of life and economic growth — by making America's communities more livable and more prosperous, and by increasing the nation's prosperity at home and abroad. 3. The arts help to form an educated and aware citizenry — by promoting understanding in this diverse society, by develop- ing competencies in school and at work, and by advancing freedom of inquiry and the open exchange of ideas and values. 4. The arts enhance individual life — by encouraging individual creativity, spirit, and potential; and by providing release, relaxation, and entertainment. The Arts Sector. The Ninety-second American Assembly found that the arts sector — commercial, not-for-profit, and unin- corporated — is enormous. A conservative estimate puts consumer spending on the arts in 1995 at roughly $180 billion, or 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If all copyright industries are included, these numbers roughly double. This Assembly also found that, notwithstanding the arts sector's size, investment and jobs in it are risky. Even in the commercial world, very few arts products make money. Not-for- profit organizations have to raise half their revenues through contributions and grants. "Unincorporated" groups rely on volun- teers. Only about 25 percent of artists work full time at their art, and the vast majority of them make considerably less than other professionals and lack basic health and other benefits. Yet, all Americans attend, consume, encounter, or create some kind of art each year. The largest proportion of this participation appears to be through the media, and this is so whether the art derives from the not-for-profit or commercial worlds. This Assembly found that cooperation between the commercial and not-for-profit worlds can reduce the barriers to access for -6- American audiences, and that the new technologies, especially the Internet, are becoming increasingly important in this respect. The Arts Sector and Public Purposes. The Ninety-second American Assembly found that all three parts of the arts sector contribute, in major and varying ways, to the public purposes that it identified. This Assembly, however, singled out a number of opportunities that could dynamically increase the arts sector's capacity to achieve public purposes. These included: (i) a more overt and con- tinuous commitment of time and resources by artists and arts organizations to public purposes; (ii) increased collaboration across the component parts of the arts sector to this end; (iii) greater attention to the arts sector's general financial security and to funding that advances public purposes; (iv) improved means of distribution and dissemination to provide access for all Americans to a full range of the arts at reasonable cost; (v) renewed attention to, and funding for, preservation of America's artistic heritage; (vi) improved educational programs in the arts; (vii) increased and improved data, research, and analysis to support the development of arts policies; and (viii) better collabo- ration and coordination among advocates and professionals in support of public policies to these ends. Recommendations. The Ninety-second American Assembly identified a number of ideas that, if implemented, would help artists and artistic enterprises both to meet public purposes and to flourish. There was consensus that all those represented at this Assembly would need to work together if real progress were to be made. 1. Artists and arts institutions — commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated — should consider and devote time and resources explicitly to achieving public purposes. 2. Partnerships among the commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector should be developed and expanded, to enhance its capacity to achieve public purposes. 3. Foundations, corporations, individual benefactors, commer- cial arts organizations, regions, states, localities, and the -7- federal government should work together to develop strate- gies (i) to ensure a larger measure of financial stability for serious artists and arts organizations throughout the arts sector, and (ii) to stimulate the diverse range of arts activi- ties that address public purposes in American life. 4. Public and private funders, commercial arts distribution entities, and government agencies should (i) make noncom- mercial arts products more accessible to the general public, (ii) help geographically disadvantaged communities get greater access to the arts and share their community arts outside their communities, and (hi) promote the use of new technologies for making the arts accessible. 5. Additional and specifically earmarked public and private funds should be identified (i) to inventory current preser- vation efforts, (ii) to develop a code of "best practices" in preservation, and (iii) to recognize living, contemporary artists as critical to America's artistic heritage. 6. America's education and arts communities should make the fullest possible range of resources available to provide serious and rigorous arts education to young people (K-12), adults and to older citizens. The scope of arts education should be expanded to include the design and media arts, media literacy, and dance movement. 7. Arts professionals, arts service and trade associations, policy professionals, universities, and public policy insti- tutes should collaborate on data collection, research, and analysis on the arts sector and on arts policy. 8. The commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector should collaborate in pursuing government policy objectives that further the sector's interests. 9. The arts sector should continue the dialogue begun at this Assembly — at annual association meetings and specially convened and targeted meetings, including possibly a national meeting of leaders from the federal government and all segments of the arts sector. -8- PREAMBLE We have come together to examine what public purposes are served and ought to be served by the arts in America, in all their grand variety. In limited measure, we reflect that variety. We come from large commercial enterprises, small not-for-profit organizations, and private workrooms. We are community work- ers and executives of media conglomerates, poets and Broadway producers, critics and politicians, choreographers and professors, architects and public officials, philanthropists and movie stars. We have struggled across differences, politics, and aesthetic perspectives, and together have concluded that there are public purposes to the arts in America that we all share, indeed that all Americans share. We have specific proposals to strengthen the ways the arts can fulfill these purposes, and we have prepared this report to set them forth. At this American Assembly, we have tried to find our common concerns and hopes. What may be most significant about our endeavor is the cooperation that it represents. Our intent was to find fresh ground for discourse about the role and place of the arts in American life, and to place the arts in full perspective. Whatever the responses to the individual recommendations in this report, three important points must not go unnoticed. First, we insist on a recognition that the arts include the whole spec- trum of artistic activity in the United States — from Sunday school Christmas pageants to symphony orchestras to fashion design to blockbuster movies. Second, we firmly acknowledge the interdependence of all parts of the arts sector — noting particular- ly the links between the commercial and not-for-profit parts. Third, we affirm that the arts do serve public purposes and, therefore, are of benefit and concern to all of us. We pledge our- selves to the reinforcement of the interdependence of all the arts and to the public purposes that they serve. We also call on others to join us in these efforts. THE ARTS IN AMERICAN LIFE The arts in America derive in unique ways from the pluralism of our society, and from many traditions — preserved, imported, wedded, and put into collision — that originate here and in every country on earth. America's arts are as diverse as rhythm & blues -9- and symphony orchestras, movies and mambo, abstract expres- sionism and the dozens, singing commercials and stand-up come- dy, Charlie Parker and Georgia O'Keeffe, advertising logos and Bruce Springsteen, Balanchine and Bill "Boj angles" Robinson, Superman and Carlos Santana, Buster Keaton and the Vietnam War Memorial. As happily profane as Harpo and as sacred as a kachina doll, as eclectic as jazz itself, as unpredictable as the rhythms of William Carlos Williams, as sweeping as Oklahoma, our national art, as an immeasurable whole, remains a form or motion, rather than any kind of stasis or purity. The arts in our country celebrate and preserve our national legacy in museums, concert halls, parks, and alternative spaces; they also inhere in the objects and buildings we use every day, and in the music we listen to in our cars, workplaces, homes, and streets. They calm us and excite us, they lift us up and sober us, and they free our spirit from the relentless mill of daily obliga- tions; they entertain as well as instruct us; they help us understand who we are as individuals, as communities, and as a people. Their beauty or rage can fill us with emotion. In grief or celebration, and also in the subtler modes of irritation, amuse- ment, sexiness, or depression, in great works or in the humblest objects or diversions, they tell our personal and national stories. Through them, Americans examine their national unity and preserve it. Participation in the arts is a treasured American activity. An overwhelming majority of Americans personally take part in the creation or presentation of art. Americans have accorded a place to all of the arts. Indeed, the arts are so pervasive that we are not always conscious that we are engaging in them when we are. "The arts," as this description makes clear, are defined broadly by this Assembly. They include the not- ^he arts"...are defined for-profit arts and the broadly _ they include the not- commercial arts, as t? . n well as the range of for-profit... commercial... and citizen arts that is "unincorporated" arts.... referred to as "unin- corporated" — community, avocational, traditional, or folk arts, the indigenous arts in their many manifestations. This Assembly resisted calling up the conventional dichotomies that have 10- separated the arts into high and low, fine and folk, professional and amateur, insisting, instead, on a full spectrum concept of an arts sector. In developing this fresh concept of the arts spectrum, this Assembly offers an associated concept: that a fully functioning, flexible arts sec- tor is institution- ...a fully functioning, flexible arts ahzed within our se ctor...should figure in public society, and that -. -. , ..-. r -, , this sector should debates with a force...equal to figure in public that of other sectors... debates with a force and importance equal to that of other sectors, such as science, health, transportation, and education. The arts sector does not have this status yet. But the participants in this Assembly are in agreement that the arts do attend dynamically to the public purposes of the nation, and that the missions and the contributions of the arts should be recognized and reinforced with due seriousness. It is the relationship between the arts and the public interest of all Americans that this Assembly identified and explored. THE PUBLIC PURPOSES OF THE ARTS Typically, arts issues have been addressed in terms of the needs of the arts and artists. In contrast, this Assembly presents find- ings based on a very different assumption: that the arts can and do meet the needs of the ...the arts can and do meet ^, on and its citizens ; , , r , . Public purposes are not the needs of the nation... static . they change and evolve; they are reinter- preted over time. For our time, in the context of rapid technolog- ical, media, and social change, the arts — it can be argued — have special public responsibilities. Through the interpretive and expressive strengths of the arts and of artists, Americans can much more fully live with change and make change meaningful. This nation's founders perceived the importance of the arts both in civil society and in the marketplace. They wished to establish conditions in which art could flourish. They also commissioned monumental works of art dedicated to the public ■11- purpose. Clearly, there is a grounding in the Constitution for the view that the arts serve important public purposes — both in the First Amendment (which reflects the value in a democratic soci- ety of diverse views) and in the copyright clause (which urges Congress to promote the progress of knowledge by granting rights to authors to induce them to be creative). Today, there is a role for the arts in fulfilling some of the public purposes contained in the Preamble of the Constitution. Art is a necessary and important component of a healthy Republic. This Assembly identified four public mandates that are addressed by the arts. I. The arts help to define what it is to be an American : • By building a sense of the nation's identity. The arts provide the symbols of who we are and what we stand for. They tell the nation's story as it unfolds, defining and redefining that which we hold in common. The arts provide this sense of identity at the national, state, and local levels — in neighbor- hoods and homes, rich and poor. • By reinforcing the reality of American pluralism. This country's diverse populations and its ethnic, indigenous, and historic communities find their voices and parallel histories and share them through many art forms. Through the arts, we cross borders — among individuals, geographies, and cultures. • By advancing democratic values at home. The arts encourage association, and provide us with opportunities for shared creativity and shared enterprise. They help us experience community, and invite us to focus together on ideas, issues, and emotions. In doing so, they sustain and deepen the dia- logue about the American experiment and democratic values. • By advancing democratic values and peace abroad. America's arts are often advance agents of democracy. They project American values, vitality, and resourcefulness, as well as technological prowess, around the world. This American pres- ence abroad often helps bridge cultural divides and makes cooperation and peaceful relations more possible. II. The arts contribute to quality of life and economic growth : • By making America's communities more livable and prosper- ous. From murals, songs, and dances to museums, stages, 12- landscapes, and built environments, in cities, suburbs, and towns, the arts make the places we live in better. Not only do the arts provide the grounding of identity and the creation of spirit in communities, they also provide jobs and incentives for community improvement. The arts help to attract new residents and visitors. There are solid studies documenting the importance of the arts in local and regional economies, in inner cities and rural towns. • By increasing the nations prosperity domestically. The arts sector represents an enormous industry. It provides jobs on a national basis, and attracts visitors from all over the world. In addition, Americans' involvement and education in the arts strengthens the ingenuity and creativity of our workforce and the design and usability of our products and services. • By increasing the nation's prosperity globally. American commercial arts are one of the nation's largest export indus- tries. They dominate world cultural markets and produce a trade surplus in the billions. The arts also help to design and package American products and services, making them more competitive globally. III. The arts help to form an educated and aware citizenry : • By promoting understanding in this diverse society. Study of the arts can help Americans to understand the experiences that move us and communicate to us, to develop discrimina- tion and judgment, and to gain a sense of our civilization and the civilizations that contribute to ours. • By developing competencies in school and at work. It is now well documented by studies that engagement in the arts has beneficial, measurable effects on cognitive development in children — fostering creativity, problem-solving, team- building and communication skills, discipline, and direction, all desirable citizen qualities. Lifelong learning in the arts provides many of the same benefits. • By advancing freedom of inquiry and an open exchange of ideas and values. The arts invite us to critique what we know, to challenge the conventional, and to consider change. In this way, the arts help the citizenry analyze, interpret, and debate the conditions of national life. 13- IV. The arts enhance individual life : • By encouraging individual creativity, spirit, and potential. American values include, although they are not limited to, creativity, individualism, competence, and a commitment to self-improvement. The arts help to advance these values. The arts can also promote self-fulfillment, spirituality, and respect for tradition. However we . define our individual goals, the arts provide meaning and motivation. This enhancement of private goals ultimately serves our collective public purpose. • By providing release, relaxation, and entertainment. In the opinion of most of the participants at this Assembly, provid- ing opportunities for entertainment is a valid public purpose. THE ARTS SECTOR This Assembly, in its attempt to define the arts sector, made certain observations regarding the sector's size, organization, participants, customers, and audiences. At the same time, this Assembly recognized that a great deal of additional information is needed for any realistic measure of the sector. The brief analy- sis presented here frames a general sense of the sector, drawn from the participants' experience and the background materials made available to them. Size and Financing of the Arts Sector The arts sector is enormous. A conservative estimate of con- sumer spending on the arts, entertainment, and communications amounted to roughly $180 billion in 1995, 2.5 percent of the GDP, according The arts Sector is to sources prepared for this Assembly. _ _ r i j_n A l ■ ^ ij enormous... LbutJ A more comprehensive accounting would include newspaper publishing, maga- investment in It zine publishing, business information IS risky. services, and interactive digital media from the full arts and entertainment/communications industry, raising the figure to $292 billion. If one includes all copyright industries, the $180 billion number would roughly double. A principal asset of the commercial arts is the development of, and access to, sophisticated marketing and distribution systems. A principal asset of the not-for-profit arts is intellectual capital, 14- in the form of collections, repertoire, and other creative materials. Both for-profits and not-for-profits draw on artistic talent, and both attempt to develop brand or trade names. Despite the magnitude of the arts sector, investment in it is risky. Very few art products make money or break even. For instance, in Hollywood, 20 percent of the movies make 80 percent of the revenues, and most feature films lose money. Few Broadway shows recoup their investment. Not-for-profit organi- zations cannot "earn" all the money it takes to sustain their operations; they have to raise on the order of half their revenues through contributions and grants. For most not-for-profits, grants do not provide sufficient or dependable funding, and the efforts to raise the necessary funds can divert attention away from artistic concerns. Most unincorporated activities rely largely on the in-kind and volunteer contributions of community members. Commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated arts organiza- tions vary greatly in management dimension and stability. Entertainment companies are organized by industry and have increasingly become dominated by a few very large firms, but even these large organizations are unsettled by mergers, takeovers, and the effects of boom-bust cycles. Not-for-profits comprise many autonomous and specialized organizations. The largest and most successful of them may be established and rela- tively stable, but the existence of many not-for-profits, especially small and mid-sized ones, is precarious. Some unincorporated institutions live day-to-day; most depend on volunteers; others are run as successful small businesses. It is notable that in more rural areas, cultural organizations often serve as dependable, ongoing "centers" of community activity and spirit. For artists themselves, work in the sector can be risky. Only about one quarter of all artists work solely at their disciplines. Although relatively well educated-40 Percent of thls product tends to impact. obscure other, often individual contributions of communities and artists that are not part of the "Top 40." Not-for-profit and unincorporated artists and arts orga- nizations also contribute to the establishment of national, state, and local identities and provide stories from our past, but they often have severe difficulties in achieving the distribution neces- sary to make a substantial impact. A big challenge for the future is the best use of technology to provide access for all Americans to the full spectrum of the arts. Contributing to Quality of Life and Economic Growth Across the spectrum, as previously noted, the arts create large numbers of jobs and produce a major trade surplus for the nation. Such economic benefits affect localities throughout the country — attracting tourists, anchoring urban development, and providing local jobs. However, there are a number of problems asssociated with economic growth in many American communities. For exam- ple, the application of design principles and planning to urban, suburban, and rural settings merits more consistent attention. Increasingly, communities are debating appropriate preventive regulation or other public action to help ensure positive benefits from growth and change. Forming an Educated and Aware Citizenry All three parts of the arts sector help educate citizens and pro- vide perspectives on the social conditions and issues of the day. However, throughout the sector, the educational effects of the arts are underappreciated. For instance, the educational programs of 19- not-for-profit arts institutions are often given low priority and are underfunded despite the major services that they provide. The unincorporated arts are similarly under- ...throughout the Sector, the valued; they help -■ ,. -, rr , r j_i ±_ many children and educational effects of the arts adults develop skills, are underappreciated. see their potential, and get information. But they are not used and funded for educa- tional purposes to the extent that they should be. On the other hand, the vast marketing and outreach activities of the commer- cial sector are great resources that could be better used to help form an educated and aware citizenry — and to help the not-for- profit and unincorporated parts of the arts sector achieve their educational missions. All three parts of the arts sector are accused, at times, of pro- ducing material that is inimical to the public interest, and debate on such issues will surely continue. This Assembly acknowledged that the arts mirror the great differences in values and expecta- tions of the society, and urged openness, tolerance, and fullness of information and participation in these debates. Enhancing Individual Freedom, Spirit, and Potential Individuals draw courage, solace, and inspiration from works of art that circulate across the commercial, not-for-profit, and unin- corporated parts of the arts sector. The American who watches network television, sings in a choir, listens to audio-books, and enjoys a dance performance, lives in a matrix of all three. It is not possible to draw a bright line between the commercial, not-for- profit, and unincorporated arts. Furthermore, the distinction between them has little meaning to audiences and individuals. However, the importance of the unincorporated part of the arts sector is not fully appreciated. There is perhaps no ingredient in this mix more supportive of individual freedom, spirit, and potential than the activities carried out without compensation by avocational practitioners in traditional, community, and other unincorporated settings. The importance of these artistic activi- ties needs better documentation, attention, and support. -20- RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations reflect a broad spectrum of views expressed by participants in this Assembly. They address the issue of how the capacity of the entire arts sector might be strengthened, practically and realistically, to meet public purposes. At the outset, this Assembly recommends that all arts business- es, arts institutions, and artists continue and expand the time and resources that ...arts businesses, arts institutions, the y devote t0 and artists [should] continue and ac ievmg . public purpos- expand the time and resources es f tne arts [for] achieving public purposes... The arts sec- tor's acceptance of existing public benefits, and its inherent capacity to illuminate American life in all its diversity, argue strongly for it to consider explicitly the public purposes inherent in its work, and to make that work broadly available. Achieving Collaboration and Partnership Recognizing that audiences and artists flow freely across the commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector, this Assembly strongly encourages developing and strengthening partnerships and collaborations among the parts of the arts sector to achieve public purposes. 1. The productivity and competitiveness of American business in general — and of the communications, information, tech- nology, advertising, design, fashion, and entertainment industries in particular, the "arts industries" — depend on creative, intelligent, and imaginative men and women. Persons educated in the arts can help businesses achieve such productivity and competitiveness. • Business, educational, and cultural organizations should work together to encourage the careers of artists and their involvement in making American business more produc- tive and competitive. Ideas for consideration include internships and scholarships for art students; equipment donations; consultancies for art faculty members in -21- industry; joint fundraising; and "arts industry" mentoring of artists as they develop their trades and talents. American business is attracted to communities with strong, lively, educational and cultural institutions. Many regions, cities, and towns have used the arts to make themselves notable as destinations to visit and as places to live. • National associations of arts organizations, chambers of commerce, and similar institutions should work together (i) to produce impact studies and cases that show the rela- tionship between a strong arts presence and economic development, and (ii) to educate communities as to the impact of this relationship. American cities represented at this Assembly expressed interest in demonstrating their success in developing through the arts. • As state and local governments mount development efforts, they should work closely with arts organizations and artists as well as with businesses and business men and women. Again, models for such cooperation exist and should be publicized. The commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector have important reasons to The commercial, not-for- work together in a fit ^ unincorporat ed variety ol areas. n , . • They should collab- P arts of the arts sector orate to yield have important reasons shared ideas and to work together... approaches in such areas as preservation, protection of intellectual property rights, First Amendment protections, access to technolo- gy, and access to the most effective means of distribution of art. Scholars and lawyers working on these problems should work across the sector. • The arts sector should develop mechanisms that will enable it to share information and ideas on behalf of con- stituents and on behalf of the entire spectrum. Executives of associations representing all parts of the arts sector should take responsibility to achieve this, and should begin to meet to identify their shared needs. -22- Improving Financial Support and Investment Enormous differences in size and scope characterize the finan- cial support of artistic activities across the entire arts spectrum. To ensure that the richly diverse American arts flourish, grow, and better meet public purposes, this Assembly recommends that all interested parties — government; private funders; commercial, not- for-profit, and unincorporated arts organizations; and members of the general public — explore new ways of funding and investing in the arts that would further public purposes. 1. Commercial arts institutions have long had an interest in the products and talents of the not-for-profit and unincorpo- rated worlds, just as not-for-profit arts institutions have long had an interest in the products and talents of the com- mercial and unincorporated worlds. • The three parts of the arts sector should work together to attract an investment pool from foundations, corpora- tions, and individuals to fund specific projects and/or organizational capacities that would help the arts achieve public purposes. 2. Foundations — private, community, and family — have played a critical leadership role in stimulating the growth and evolution of America's not- for-profit arts. Building on ...foundations Can their experience, founda- . ■% . j tions can today provide ^ " renewed leadership in renewed leadership... defining ways in which the arts might better meet public purposes and be funded to that end. • In addition to their consideration of artistic achieve- ments, foundations should devote serious attention to the public purposes of the arts, and set goals for themselves and their grantees that fund improvements in the capac- ity of the arts to meet these purposes. • Foundations are funding more research and policy- related projects in the arts than was the case in the past. As a part of this effort, they and their grantees should develop evaluation criteria that measure and assess the impact of public and other funding in achieving public purposes. -23- • Arts institutions and artists cannot sustain their efforts to achieve public purposes without a degree of long-term financial stability. Foundations should take the lead in generating funds for general operating support, as well as project support, for arts institutions. They should also help generate funds to support individual artists who have demonstrated a capacity for excellence. • A "New Crowd" of potential donors is emerging with resources and reasons to be interested in the arts. Foundations should take the lead in locating new individ- ual and corporate donors interested in helping the arts and in working with them to increase funding to achieve public purposes. • Foundations should explore and analyze alternative fund- ing sources for the arts, including PRI's (program-related investments); loans and guarantees; in-kind as well as contributed support; prizes and competitions. Corporations play a significant role in funding the not- for-profit arts — sponsoring major international museum exhibitions, concert series, and domestic and international tours of major performing arts companies, as well as making grants. Corporations have also distinguished themselves in sponsoring quality series on both commercial and public television. • Corporations should consider (i) specific grants to help artists and arts organizations achieve public purposes, (ii) increased corporate image sponsorship of quality offer- ings on television, (iii) broadened employee matching grant programs benefiting the arts, (iv) subsidized tickets for employees to attend arts productions and exhibits, and (v) in the case of financial institutions, allocating percent- ages of credit card transactions to the arts. The federal government has long provided support for the arts through copyright and First Amendment protections, broadcast spectrum allocation, tax policy and incentives, and direct funding of selected activities. The federal govern- ment achieves national public purposes in these ways. • All interested parties should explore, in a fresh, open, and informed way, the most appropriate methods of federal support of the arts in furtherance of the public purpose. In -24- . .- . , . , , , addition to programs All interested parties should and tax ince ntives explore... the most appropriate that assist not-for- methods of federal Support of Profit and unincorpo- the arts in furtherance of the rated arts actlvlties > , t . consideration should public purpose. be given to providing support for activities undertaken by commercial arts organizations that achieve specific public purposes. • Most, but not all, Assembly participants believe that it is essential to maintain direct funding for the arts and humanities at the federal level by agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts. • Federal tax laws and regulations should be examined to see how they might more effectively support the arts in achieving public purposes. In addition, (i) the charitable deduction should be retained for gifts to all 501(c)(3) organizations, (ii) the deductibility of gifts of appreciated publicly traded stocks to private foundations should be made permanent, (iii) estate tax regulations should be amended to treat artists' estates in a manner similar to the treatment of the estates of the owners of small busi- nesses, and (iv) the federal government should consider granting waivers that would allow foundations and state and local agencies to make grants to groups that do not have 501(c)(3) status — for the purpose of stimulating innovative partnerships with commercial arts organi- zations in furtherance of public purposes, and for the pur- pose of providing support to unincorporated arts groups. 5. There is a growing movement of regional, state, and local initiatives in support of the arts. These initiatives target the specific needs of the geo- graphic areas which they Regions, States, and cover. In most cases, localities should closely regions, states, and local- , n n -, -■ n ... u , . n , study successful models lties are best informed J about the most effective that they might adapt ways to achieve public to help achieve public purposes in their areas. purposes • Regions, states, and -25- localities should closely study successful models that they might adapt to help achieve public purposes. These include (i) special sales tax districts for the arts and/or culture (as in the greater Denver area in Colorado), (ii) bed taxes on hotels and motels (as in San Francisco, California and Columbus, Ohio), (hi) special property taxes (as in Aspen, Colorado and St. Louis, Missouri), and (iv) other taxes (as in South Dakota on gambling and in Huntsville, Alabama on liquor). • States and localities should (i) respect the tax-exempt status of cultural and other not-for-profit organizations, (ii) consider supplementing their current base of appropriations with permanent endowments (as in the case of the Missouri Cultural Trust and the Arizona Arts Trust Fund), and (hi) consider linking some funding more explicitly and directly to the pursuit of public purposes. • Community foundations exist at both local and regional levels in many parts of the country. They have unique capacities to identify community public purposes and raise and grant money to achieve them. These founda- tions should consider proactively establishing pools of funds from both public and private sources that would help the arts achieve public purposes in communities and regions. Making the Arts More Accessible The arts — commercial, not-for-profit and unincorporated — are important both for their contributions to the public purpose and in themselves. This Assembly believes it is essential that all Americans have access to the arts at affordable cost. 1. Distribution systems for the arts work inadequately across the full spectrum, putting both creative artists and the general public at disadvantage. Distribution systems for the impediments to the arts work inadequately. . . free flow of creative ... * ., ,. ,. . ideas and artistic P uttm £ botn creative artists products reduce the and the general public at arts sector's capaci- disadvantage. -26- ty to achieve public purposes; such impediments also hurt the development of the arts. • Commercial enterprises in the fields of print and electronic distribution should make a greater diversity of art products available to the general public. An example is provided by the inexpensive print editions of short classic texts that have achieved great popularity in other countries. 2. Access to the live arts and to a full range of arts options remains a problem in communities underserved as a result of their geographic location. • Public and private funders should direct particular support to programs and organizations in such communi- ties, as should major not-for-profit organizations and commercial arts enterprises. A successful example of such a program is the Chamber Music Rural Residency Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. • Higher education institutions — often publicly support- ed — sometimes house the only theaters, art and film collections, and other arts resources in their regions. They should develop and improve their public outreach in the arts. 3. Technology is both a boon and a challenge to making the arts more accessible. The "old" technologies of broadcast television and radio, film, and recordings have greatly expanded the accessibility of the arts. Now, new technologies (e.g., the Internet) present new opportunities and challenges for the production and distribution of art and information about the arts. • The arts community and public and private funders should promote the use of these technologies by artists, and encourage their availability to the public, especially through schools and libraries. Preserving the Nation's Heritage Preserving the arts clearly contributes to the public purpose inherent in maintaining the heri- ] tages of the nation and its many a reserving tne arts communities. Preserving the heri- clearly Contributes to tage has become increasingly th@ nublic DUTOOSe expensive. From Monticello to -27- movie classics, modern dance documentation to book preservation, the challenges are much the same. 1. There is an urgent need to develop detailed inventories of needs, costs, and current plans for preservation in each of the arts disciplines. Some arts institutions and communities have made notable strides in doing this and should provide models for others. • Appropriate scholarly institutions should work with interested business, government, and community leaders to discuss the feasibility of a fund (contributed to by both the private and public sectors) that would make such inventories possible. 2. There is no effective exchange of information and no agree- ment on what "best practices" are in the preservation field. • Public advocates, private sector leaders, and specialists interested in the American heritage should develop a code of "best practices" — defining the interests and standards of authenticity to be met, the theories of curator ship and stewardship to be advanced, and the degrees of entrepre- neurship to be encouraged. 3. Recognition of living treasures, of outstanding contemporary artists and art achievements is inadequate in the United States. • The arts community, media, and general public should find appropriate ways to recognize contemporary work and its creators as a part of America's artistic heritage. The national medals in the arts and humanities and the MacArthur Foundation fellowship awards are good examples of the kind. Improving Education and Training Arts education is fundamental to achieving the public purpose. Arts education includes education through the arts, education about the arts, and education in doing the arts. While arts educa- tion is critical for young people, life- long and continuing education in the ml -, , . u A u . , „ . There is a need to arts can keep adult minds growing and older citizens engaged and vital. Stimulate greater 1. There is a need to stimulate attention to arts greater attention to arts educa- education tion in schools (K— 12), to assess -28- the strengths and weaknesses of arts education programs, and to identify practical ways of improving them. • In some states, state arts agencies are sponsoring gather- ings to assess and improve the state of arts education. This activity should be undertaken more broadly, through partnerships among state arts agencies, state depart- ments of education, and representatives of the arts sector. • Foundations and other funders should continue to provide leadership and support to develop rigorous, sequential arts education programs in sample schools — identifying successful techniques related to specific objectives, seeing them implemented, and evaluating and disseminating the results. Examples include the J. Paul Getty Trust's initia- tives in arts education, and such programs as the "A+" schools in North Carolina and elsewhere. • The academic community and the arts sector should work together to develop joint educational programs in schools and in the broader society. • Alternative means of teacher certification should be developed to permit artists to contribute more regularly and directly to the formal educational process. The scope of arts education at every level should be expand- ed beyond the arts disciplines that are normally taught in schools — music, visual arts, theater, and literature. • The design and media arts, and dance movement, should be included in school curricula. • Media literacy programs should be encouraged, so that Americans of all ages may better appreciate the media as art forms, and better understand communications tech- niques and the impacts of the broadcast and electronic media on the democratic process and on the marketplace. • Educational programs should be developed on intellectu- al property rights, their impact on creativity, and changes to be considered in relation to the new technologies. • Educational programs on philanthropy, volunteerism, and the practices of a civil society should be supported and encouraged. • Universities and arts organizations should collaborate in developing programs for journalists that enhance their understanding and coverage of public policy issues concerning the arts. ■29- 3. Colleges, universities, and conservatories are major resources to help with arts education in schools, arts programming for the general public, and life-long training of artists. • These institutions should continue and expand their efforts (i) to provide continuing education and teaching materials for elementary and secondary school arts teach- ers; (ii) to make a variety of art (including the work of artists working in their areas) available to the general public, both live and via the media and the Internet; and (iii) to offer postgraduate education and in-service train- ing to practicing artists. Meeting Research, Information, and Evaluation Needs There is a need for research to understand better the scope, scale, and interactions of the commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector, the sector's supporting infrastructures, strengths and weaknesses within the sector, and the degree to which parts of the sector meet or do not meet public purposes. 1. Currently, research, information, and evaluation efforts in the arts sector are fragmented and uncoordinated. Arts professionals and policy analysts seldom interact; ...research, information, universities and public and evaluation efforts policy institutes seldom .*. , , concern themselves with m the arts Sect ° r arts policy; and not-for- are fragmented and profit arts institutions uncoordinated. often lack the skills required to undertake research beyond rudimentary mar- keting studies. • Arts professionals and policy professionals should work together in the development of policy studies and research, especially on issues of public policy and the efforts of arts institutions and artists to achieve public purposes. • Mechanisms should be established by which industry trade associations and arts service organizations share data and research and make such information available to the research and policy communities. Executives of ■30- these associations should engage in conversations to this end. • Universities and public policy institutes should devote greater time and resources to issues involving the arts and cultural policies as they relate to other sectors and factors in American life. • Businesses should donate time for their employees to work with not-for-profit institutions to help them develop research capacities, marketing information, and business skills. 2. Serious and rigorous analysis and evaluation of artistic enterprises are in many cases lacking. Information is needed on how artistic enterprises operate, how they impact communities, and how they cooperate among themselves, particularly as between the commercial and not-for-profit worlds. Information is also needed regarding the careers of artists. • Issue analyses should be developed in the areas discussed in this Assembly. • Case studies should be prepared (i) of efforts of artists and arts institutions to meet public purposes, and (ii) of collaborations between the commercial and not-for-profit worlds. • Longitudinal studies of artists' careers should be pursued. • Better information should be gathered on the ways in which the arts are supported in other countries. Of particular importance is information on how the commer- cial part of the arts sector supports not-for-profit and unincorporated arts activities. • University researchers and public policy institutes should develop evaluation tools that can be used in assessing the activities of artists and arts institutions, particularly in order to understand better the economic and social impacts of the arts on communities. 3. Comparable and centrally collected information on support systems relating to the arts and comprehensive arts policy research and study programs is lacking. • A national database and information clearinghouse on support systems and organizations covering the commer- cial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector should be developed in cooperation with those ■31- organizations. A central coordinator and home base should be identified with the assistance of interested professionals, possibly from an existing study center. • Universities and others should develop arts policy research and study institutes to foster the expansion of such research. The arts service associations should be included in the development of these institutes. A meeting of research professionals should be convened to advance this recommendation. • Federal agencies should work with scholars and trade and service organizations to improve federal data collection efforts concerning information about artists and the arts. Strengthening Advocacy It is critical that the arts be well represented in policy and leg- islative debates and better understood by the general public. While specific lobbying and other advocacy activities are necessary to gain attention, advocacy is every citizens job in our democracy. Such advocacy is, however, a two-way street. Just as the arts want politicians to listen to them, so the arts must listen to the politi- cians and understand political realities. 1. Partnering could be an important ingredient in gaining political attention to, and policy action on, arts policy issues. Partnering COllld • Commercial, not-for-profit, and u e an imnortant unincorporated arts organiza- . A' ± ' tions should, as appropriate, « increase the resources they gaining... action make available for advocacy on on...arts policy behalf of achieving the public issues purposes of the arts. They should partner and share resources on matters of mutual concern. • A single umbrella organization should be considered for the purpose of determining shared goals and coordinating strategies. Using such an organization on issues of com- mon concern, like intellectual property or preservation of artistic resources, the arts sector might find a common voice. On other issues, those likely to be of concern to one -32- part of the sector or another, appropriate action might be separately taken, but alliances might be formed. 2. One function of the arts has always been to challenge the conventional and to call for greater or lesser degrees of social change. In recent years, the challenges posed by this func- tion have become especially provocative in some quarters, causing a significant public backlash. • Arts advocacy should address both the provocations and the backlash without masking the issue. Ways to do this might include informed, well-staged debates around con- troversial issues, interactions through journals and on the Internet, and thoughtful media coverage. Civil debate on these matters, as this Assembly itself illustrated, is more likely to be productive than doctrinaire position-taking. Furthering the Dialogue This Assembly is a beginning. A continuing and broader dia- logue should be undertaken across the commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated parts of the arts sector, and leaders of other sectors should be engaged in this dialogue. 1. Specially convened and targeted meetings are needed, on a national basis, to discuss the kinds of issues raised in this report and their implications for new actions. • Recommendations of this Assembly should be discussed at the annual membership meetings of commercial and not- for-profit associations. Representatives of associations present at this Assembly concurred. • Service organization and trade association executives should create a forum in which to discuss the public purpose goals set out in this report and activities in furtherance of those goals that their fields might share. • Producers, presenters, publishers, media professionals, should meet to discuss the public purpose goals set out in this report and activities to achieve them. • Business leaders should gather a group of their peers to consider the implications of a sector approach in the arts and to share new ideas and initiatives already under way that could provide models for action in helping achieve the public purposes of the arts. -33- • Selected commercial arts organization executives and artists should meet with selected not-for-profit peers to begin a dialogue on common interests and to identify shared projects. • Programs should be developed to enhance the under- standing, tolerance, and support of the arts by religious leaders and similarly to , enhance the understand- Programs should be ing, tolerance, and sup- j i j i i ' * r . ' -,.. developed to enhance port of religious traditions ** by the arts community. the understanding. . .of • A pool of artists should the arts by religious be identified to provide leaders and... the creative leadership to understanding... of continuing efforts result- , . . -. , ing from this Assembly. rellglOUS traditions by involvement of the ere- the arts community. ators of art is critical if activities in furtherance of public purposes are to be inspiring and effective. This Assembly may be the first to engage in cross-sectoral discussions about the public purpose of the arts. It should not be the last to do so. • Regional Assemblies should be conducted to continue the dialogue. • A national meeting of leaders from the federal govern- ment and the commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorpo- rated parts of the arts sector, should be considered to dis- cuss the state of the arts in this country and how they might be strengthened to serve better the public purpose. Such a meeting could propel a national conversation on these issues, demonstrate the positive opportunities pro- vided to the nation and its leaders by the arts (as opposed to the problems frequently focused on), and spark collab- oration, formal or informal, at the highest levels. * * ■34- The days spent at this Assembly were intense, productive, and rewarding. There were, however, limits to the deliberations. Participants had to work very fast. There was diverse but incom- plete representation of American communities, interests, and fields. Although the discussions drew on the experience and expertise of participants, they also demonstrated that there were many gaps in the knowledge base about the arts sector. Despite those limitations, the recommendations offered do represent the conviction that commercial, not-for-profit, and unincorporated artists and organizations 1 1 j ti n j-i comprise a single sector, that ...the arts, all of them. ,, *\ u s A . ' , 7 ' they nave snared interests, are vital to the grandest and that they can secure purposes Of democracy, mutual benefits through col- and justify the Support... laborative action. This Of all Americans. Assembly is convinced that the arts, all of them, are vital to the grandest purposes of democracy, and justify the support, attention, and involvement of all Americans. -35- PARTICIPANTS THE NINETY-SECOND AMERICAN ASSEMBLY t JANE ALEXANDER Chair National Endowment for the Arts Washington, DC PAT ALGER Songwriter/Recording Artist Nashville, TN NEIL O. ALPER Associate Professor of Economics Northeastern University Boston, MA t ALBERTA ARTHURS Former Director Arts and Humanities The Rockefeller Foundation New York, NY MARGARET C. AYERS Executive Director Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Inc. New York, NY JUDITH FRANCISCA BACA Founder/Artistic Director UCLA Cesar Chavez Center/Murale Digital Lab at Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) Venice, CA JUDITH H. BALFE Professor of Sociology The College of Staten Island and Graduate Center The City University of New York Staten Island, NY MARTHA BAYLES Contributing Editor The Wilson Quarterly Washington, DC ROBERTO BEDOYA Executive Director National Association of Artists' Organization Washington, DC THEODORE BERGER Executive Director New York Foundation for the Arts New York, NY t ALISON R. BERNSTEIN Vice President Education, Media, Arts, and Culture (EMAC) The Ford Foundation New York, NY JOHN BRADEMAS President Emeritus New York University New York, NY DONALD BYRD Choreographer The Donald Byrd Dance Foundation Brooklyn, NY t SAM KATHRYN CAMPANA Mayor City of Scottsdale Scottsdale, AZ MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL Dean Tisch School of the Arts New York University New York, NY HARRY A. HILLMAN CHARTRAND Founder and Chief Executive Officer Futures Consultants Saskatoon, Saskatchewan CANADA DUDLEY COCKE Director Roadside Theater/Appalshop Whitesberg, KY KATE COHEN Creative Director and Partner Omnivore Long Beach, CA ■36- RICHARD J. COHEN State Senator Minnesota State Senate Saint Paul, MN ERIC GIBSON Executive Editor ARTnews New York, NY JOHN WESLEY COOK President The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. New York, NY t** JEFFREY P. CUNARD Partner Debevoise & Plimpton Washington, DC JAMES COUNTS EARLY Director, Cultural Studies and Communication Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies The Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC JERRY D. FLORENCE Vice President Communications and Strategic Development Nissan Motor Corporation Gardena, CA DIANE B. FRANKEL Director Institute of Museum and Library Services Washington, DC DON FRANTZ Walt Disney Theatrical Productions New York, NY ** CATHERINE FRENCH Special Advisor American Symphony Orchestra League Washington, DC ANN GALLIGAN Associate Professor & Fine Arts Coordinator Department of Cooperative Education Northeastern University Boston, MA * WILLIAM GLADE Professor of Economics and Director, The Mexican Center Institute of Latin American Studies The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX MARIAN A. GODFREY Director, Culture Program The Pew Charitable Trusts Philadelphia, PA ROY M. GOODMAN Senator and Chair Senate Special Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs New York State Senate Albany, NY CHARLES M. GRAY Professor of Economics Graduate School of Business University of St. Thomas Minneapolis, MN TIM GUNN Executive Director National Video Resources New York, NY JUANA GUZMAN Director of Community Cultural Development Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Chicago, IL JAMES HEILBRUN Professor of Economics Fordham University Bronx, NY DAVID HERTZ Professor of Comparative Literature Indiana University Bloomington, IN -37- CHARLOTTE HETH Assistant Director for Public Programs National Museum of the American Indian The Smithsonian Institution Arlington, VA t FRANK HODSOLL Principal Hodsoll and Associates Ridgway, CO Former Chair National Endowment for the Arts Washington, DC f WILLIAM H. HONAN National Higher Education Correspondent and Former Culture Editor The New York Times New York, NY f MURRAY HORWITZ Vice President for Cultural Programming National Public Radio Washington, DC f DAVID HENRY HWANG Playwright, Screenwriter, Librettist Writers and Artists Agency New York, NY f WILLIAM IVEY Director Country Music Foundation Nashville, TN f MARIA-ROSARIO JACKSON Research Associate The Urban Institute Washington, DC JAMES EARL JONES Actor Horatio Productions Inc. Pawling, NY * NICOLAS KANELLOS Founder and Director, Arte Publico Press Professor, Department of Modern and Classical Languages University of Houston Houston, TX JONATHAN KATZ Chief Executive Officer The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Washington, DC PATRICK KAVANAUGH Executive Director Christian Performing Artists' Fellowships (CPAF) Fairfax, VA M. RAY KINGSTON Architect/Consultant Salt Lake City, UT STEVEN D. LAVINE President California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA HARVEY LICHTENSTEIN President and Executive Producer Brooklyn Academy of Music Brooklyn, NY ROBERT L. LYNCH President and Chief Executive Officer Americans for the Arts Washington, DC LOUIS MASSIAH Independent Filmmaker/Executive Director Scribe Video Center Philadelphia, PA ROGER L. MAYER President and Chief Operating Officer Turner Entertainment Co. Los Angeles, CA TIMOTHY J. MCCLIMON Executive Director AT&T Foundation New York, NY ELLEN MCCULLOCH-LOVELL Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady Office of the First Lady Washington, DC -38- DAVID MENDOZA Executive Director National Campaign for Freedom of Expression Washington, DC KEVIN V. MULCAHY Professor Department of Political Science Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA LYNNE MUNSON Research Associate American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Brooklyn, NY GEORGE NEGROPONTE Artist, Adjunct Professor Parsons School of Design Studio School New York, NY MONNIE PETERS Arts Consultant and Researcher Washington, DC ROBERT PINSKY Poet Laureate of the United States and Professor of English and Creative Writing Boston University Newton, MA ELIZABETH "BETTY JO" D. RHEA Mayor of Rock Hill Office of the Mayor Rock Hill, SC WILLIAM CRAIG RICE Preceptor and Assistant to the Director, Expository Writing Harvard University Boston, MA DANIEL RITTER Former Counsel U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities Washington, DC * BARBARA S. ROBINSON Chair, Ohio Arts Council and Chair, Arts Midwest Cleveland, OH JOHN P. ROBINSON Director, Americans' Use of Time Project Department of Sociology University of Maryland College Park, MD PEDRO A. RODRIGUEZ Executive Director Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center San Antonio, TX f MARK ROSENTHAL President and Chief Operating Officer MTV Networks New York, NY PAMELA SAMUELSON Professor of Information Management School of Information Management and Systems University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, CA SUZANNE M. SATO Vice President, Arts and Culture AT&T Foundation New York, NY JIM SITTER Council of Literary Magazines and Presses The Literary Network New York, NY JAMES A. SMITH Executive Director The Howard Gilman Foundation New York, NY PATRICK J. SMITH Editor-in-Chief Opera News New York, NY ■39- JOHN HOYT STOOKEY Founder The Berkshire Choral Festival Sheffield, MA JOHN SULLIVAN Executive Director and Publisher Theatre Communications Group, Inc. New York, NY HAROLD L. VOGEL Managing Director Cowen & Company New York, NY AMEI WALLACH Art Critic, Author, and Commentator Fort Lee, NJ HAROLD M. WILLIAMS President and Chief Executive Officer The J. Paul Getty Trust Los Angeles, CA MARTHA S. WOOD Mayor City of Winston-Salem Winston-Salem, NC MARGARET J. WYSZOMIRSKI Professor of Political Science and Director, Arts Management Program Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH TOMAS YBARRA-FRAUSTO Associate Director Arts and Humanities The Rockefeller Foundation New York, NY * Discussion Leader ** Rapporteur t Panelist ADVISORS GIGI BRADFORD Executive Director Center for Arts and Culture Washington, DC JEFFREY BROWN Senior Producer The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Arlington, VA JONI MAYA CHERBO Nonprofit Sector Consultant New York, NY LUISA KREISBERG Founder and President The Kreisberg Group Ltd. New York, NY -40- The Arts and the Public Purpose Background Reading Edited by Joni Maya Cherbo AMERICANS AND THE ARTS PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE ARTS Judith H. Balfe and Monnie Peters AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT THE ARTS AND CULTURE John Robinson and Nicholas Zill Commentators : Martha Bayles Maria-Rosario Jackson PUBLIC PURPOSE. POLICY. POLITICS. AND THE ARTS RAISON D'ETAT, RAISON DES ARTS: THINKING ABOUT PUBLIC PURPOSES Margaret J. Wyszomirski PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS IN WESTERN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA: GOVERNMENT, POLICIES, POLITICS Kevin V. Mulcahy Commentators : Marian Godfrey William Craig Rice THE ARTS MATRIX THE CAREER MATRIX: THE PIPELINE FOR ARTISTS IN THE UNITED STATES Ann M. Galligan and Neil O. Alper Commentators : David Henry Hwang Steven D. Lavine Eric Gibson ECONOMICS AND THE ARTS ECONOMICS OF THE NONPROFIT ARTS: STRUCTURE, SCOPE, AND SIGNIFICANCE Charles M. Gray and James Heilbrun FLICKERING IMAGES: THE BUSINESS OF HOLLYWOOD Harold L. Vogel TOWARDS AN AMERICAN ARTS INDUSTRY Harry Hillman Chartrand Commentator : Patrice Flynn -41- ABOUT THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY The American Assembly was established by D wight D. Eisenhower at Columbia University in 1950. It holds nonpartisan meetings and pub- lishes authoritative books to illuminate issues of United States policy. An affiliate of Columbia, The Assembly is a national, educational institution incorporated in the State of New York. The Assembly seeks to provide information, stimulate discussion, and evoke independent conclusions on matters of vital public interest. American Assembly Sessions At least two national programs are initiated each year. Authorities are retained to write background papers presenting essential data and defining the main issues of each subject. A group of men and women representing a broad range of experience, competence, and American leadership meet for several days to discuss the Assembly topic and consider alternatives for national policy. All Assemblies follow the same procedure. The background papers are sent to participants in advance of the Assembly. The Assembly meets in small groups for four or five lengthy periods. All groups use the same agenda. At the close of these informal sessions participants adopt in plenary session a final report of findings and recommendations. Regional, state, and local Assemblies are held following the national session at Arden House. Assemblies have also been held in England, Switzerland, Malaysia, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, the Philippines, and Japan. Over one hundred sixty institu- tions have cosponsored one or more Assemblies. Arden House The home of The American Assembly and the scene of the national sessions is Arden House, which was given to Columbia University in 1950 by W. Averell Harriman. E. Roland Harriman joined his brother in contributing toward adaptation of the property for conference purposes. The buildings and surrounding land, known as the Harriman Campus of Columbia University, are fifty miles north of New York City. Arden House is a distinguished conference center. It is self-supporting and operates throughout the year for use by organizations with educa- tional objectives. The American Assembly is a tenant of this Columbia University facility only during Assembly sessions. -42- AMERICAN ASSEMBLY BOOKS 1951 — U.S. -Western Europe Relationships 1952— Inflation 1953 — Economic Security for Americans 1954 — The U.S. Stake in the U.N. • The Federal Government Service (revised 1965) 1955— United States Agriculture • The Forty-eight States (State Government) 1956 — The Representation of the United States Abroad (revised 1964) — The United States and the Far East (revised 1962) 1957 — International Stability and Progress • Atoms for Power 1958— The United States and Africa (revised 1963) — United States Monetary Policy (revised 1964) 1959 — Wages, Prices, Profits, and Productivity — The United States and Latin America (revised 1963) 1960 — The Federal Government and Higher Education • The Secretary of State 1961 — Arms Control: Issues for the Public — Outer Space: Prospects for Man and Society (revised 1968) 1962 — Automation and Technological Change — Cultural Affairs and Foreign Relations (revised 1968) 1963 — The Population Dilemma (revised 1969) • The United States and the Middle East 1964 — The United States and Canada • The Congress and America's Future (rev. 1973) 1965 — The Courts, the Public, and the Law Explosion — The United States and Japan (revised 1975) 1966 — The United States and the Phillippines • State Legislatures in American Politics — A World of Nuclear Powers? • Challenges to Collective Bargaining 1967 — The United States and Eastern Europe • Ombudsmen for American Government? 1968 — Law in a Changing America • Uses of the Seas • Overcoming World Hunger 1969 — Black Economic Development • The States and the Urban Crisis 1970 — The Health of Americans • The United States and the Caribbean 1971 — The Future of American Transportation • Public Workers and Public Unions 1972 — The Future of Foundations • Prisoners in America 1973 — The Worker and the Job • Choosing the President 1974 — The Good Earth of America • On Understanding Art Museums • Global Companies 1975 — Law and the American Future • Women and the American Economy 1976 — The Nuclear Power Controversy • Jobs for Americans — Capital for Productivity and Jobs 1977 — Ethics of Corporate Conduct • The Performing Arts and American Society 1978 — Running the American Corporation • Race for the Presidency 1979 — Energy Conservation and Public Policy • Disorders in Higher Education 1980 — Youth Employment and Public Policy • The Economy and the President — The Farm and the City • Mexico and the United States 1981 — The China Factor • Military Service in the United States — Ethnic Relations in America 1982 — The Future of American Political Parties • Regrowing the American Economy 1983 — Financial Services • Technological Innovation in the '80s 1984 — Alcoholism and Related Problems • The Arts and Public Policy in the United States 1985 — Canada and the United States • The Promise of Tax Reform 1986 — East-West Tensions in the Third World • World Population and U.S. Policy 1987 — Health Care and Its Costs • A Workable Government? The U.S. Constitution 1988— Global Competitiveness 1 989— America's Global Interests 1990— The Global Economy 1991 — Preserving The Global Environment • Tort Law and the Public Interest — Public Money & the Muse 1992 — Rethinking America's Security • From Occupation to Cooperation: The United States & United Germany • After the Soviet Union 1993 — Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation • Engaging the Public in U.S. Foreign Policy 1994 — The United States and Japan in Asia: Challenges for U.S. Policy — U.S. Intervention Policy for the Post-Cold War World 1995 — Threatened Peoples, Threatened Borders: World Migration and U.S. Policy — U.S. Foreign Policy and the United Nations System 1997 — Living with China: U.S./China Relations in the Twenty-First Century • Africa & U.S. National Interests 1998— The Arts and the Public Purpose — U.S. Interests in the Western Hemisphere -43- ( Thz American ttssembCy Columbia University Trustees Arthur G. Altschul Charles Benton Bradley Currey, Jr. Meyer Feldberg, ex officio Ellen V. Futter David R. Gergen Roberto C. Goizueta Bill Green Karen Elliott House B.R. Inman Sol M. Linowitz John F. McGillicuddy Donald F. McHenry David H. Mortimer Raymond D. Nasher George E. Rupp, ex officio Fayez Sarofim Daniel A. Sharp, ex officio STEPHEN STAMAS, Chairman Paul A. Volcker Frank A. Weil Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. New York Illinois Georgia New York New York District of Columbia Georgia New York New York Texas District of Columbia New York District of Columbia New York Texas New York Texas Connecticut New York New York New York New York Officers Daniel A. Sharp, President DAVID H. MORTIMER, Vice President ELEANOR H. TeJIRIAN, Secretary-Treasurer Trustees Emeriti William Block William P. Bundy Clifford M. Hardin Kathleen H. Mortimer Eleanor Bernert Sheldon Clarence C. Walton Pennsylvania New Jersey Missouri New York New York Pennsylvania The American Assembly 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 456 • New York, NY 10115 Telephone (212) 870-3500 Fax (212) 870-3555 www.columbia.edu/cu/amassembly/