Arts Leaders Urge Role for Culture in Economic Recovery

As the Obama administration tackles the challenge of shoring up the economy through infusions of capital and job creation, cultural leaders are urging the president not to forget arts institutions, which are also reeling from the market downturn. In Congress the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill, approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee, includes a $50 million supplement for the NEA to distribute directly to nonprofit arts organizations and also through state and local arts agencies. The bill is expected to go to the full House for a vote on Wednesday before proceeding to the Senate. It could reach the president's desk as early as mid-February Arts groups, meanwhile, are urging federal departments like Transportation or Labor to factor culture into their financing. A transportation enhancement program, for example, could pay artists for related public artworks; through the Labor Department displaced arts professionals could receive new training to stay in the work force. Much of the clamor arises from anticipation stirred by Mr. Obama's campaign remarks about the importance of the arts. One of the few candidates with an arts platform, he called for a young "artist corps" to work in low-income schools and neighborhoods; affordable health care and tax benefits for artists; and efforts at cultural diplomacy, like dispatching artist-ambassadors to other countries. The president is considering the establishment of an arts-and-culture portfolio within the White House's Domestic Policy Council, according to Bill Ivey, who served as the administration's transition-team leader for the arts and humanities, including the future of the N.E.A., the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.