Rep. John Boehner Responds to Miami University Professor

Dr. Sara L. Butler, Professor of Art History at Miami University, emailed John Boehner encouraging his support for the NEA. Here is a portion of his reponse:

"The Founding Fathers established a federal government for the primary purpose of securing a common defense. Is continued spending on art programs an appropriate use of federal taxpayer dollars?"

Dr. Butler invites us to express our opinion. Here is his contact information.

Representative John Boehner.

ArtsWave Should Be Having this Discussion

As they launch their capital campaign, ArtsWave is continuing to hone its mission and defining its future funding guidelines. They should be considering artists grants. As they've told me recently, they are not in the business of competitive grants for individual artists. But during a brown bag lunch, Ms. Mary McCullough-Hudson suggested that such grants may be something for ArtsWave to look at in the future.

Art in America has a good story on funding of individual artists. The article presents the challenges of setting up guidelines for such grants as well as some solutions.

As the article notes, when the NEA killed artists' grants in 1994, it pulled significant financial support and recognition of our artists. But the story neglects to point out though is that yanking was a powerful gesture to the art world that funding artists is simply not a worthy effort.

ArtsWave should reconsider its cue from the NEA and work to establish artist grants with the community support they hope to gain in the coming weeks during the Sampler.

Greater Cincinnati Art Organizations Fail to Win NEA Awards.

Only one Greater Cincinnati art organization was awarded an Access to Artistic Excellence Grant from the NEA. Congratulations to The Westcott House, which was awarded $10,000 to support summer design studios for students, lectures, discussions and hands-on exercises at the Frank Lloyd House in Springfield, OH. Despite the number of arts organizations and programs to invite and encourage access to the arts here in Greater Cincinnati, no other grants were awarded.

Currently many of our local art organizations are working to drum up support for the Fine Arts Fund in these final weeks of their community campaign. Anyone who follows my blog knows where I stand here: the mantra that art is everywhere and access to the arts is depended on our support of the Fine Arts Fund argument has been tiring and misguided. But what has been most painful to watch are the local art organization Facebook pages posting "support the Fine Arts Fund" messages during this time when they are not permitted to do fundraising for themselves.

So here we are, in the final days of the Fine Arts Fund "community campaign" with the possibility of less access to the arts if the FAF fails to meet its goal again this year.

Well, there are thousands of dollars awarded to art organizations (outside of Greater Cincinnati) in order to secure access to the arts. Time spent campaigning for the FAF may be better used to develop innovative programming and successful grant writing and applications to the NEA.

As always, my wish is for working towards a stronger and more sincere support of the the arts here in Greater Cincinnati.

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NEA National Medal of Arts Comes to Ohio

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a recipient of the 2009 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given by the United States government to artists and arts patrons in recognition of the wealth and depth of their creative expressions.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is the only professional music school to be so honored by President Obama.

The other honorees for 2009 are: singer and songwriter Bob Dylan; director and actor Clint Eastwood; graphic designer Milton Glaser; architect and sculptor Maya Lin; singer, dancer, and actress Rita Moreno; soprano Jessye Norman; arts patron and design advocate Joseph P. Riley Jr.; painter and sculptor Frank Stella; conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; composer and conductor John Williams; and the School of American Ballet.

CAC Recieves Three Major Grants

Cincinnati's Contemporary Art Center has announced that it has been awarded three separate grants originating from a family foundation, a community foundation and a Federal agency, totaling over $100,000. The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts all have revealed recently their awards to the Contemporary Arts Center . Funding will be used for operating and community engagement support, and to provide jobs.

See the good news here.

NEA Announces FY 2009 Grant Awards

The NEA announced a number of FY 2009 grants awarded in Ohio.

Access to Artistic Excellence I/Challenge America Fast-Track Grants/Creativity & Aging/Literature Fellowships (Poetry)

Access to Artistic Excellence II/American Masterpieces
Arts on Radio and Television/Learning in the Arts for Children & Youth/Partnerships

And the Ohio Arts Council received an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant of $353,400.

Congratulations to all of our Ohio artists and art organizations.

To see all NEA FY 2009 awards by state start here.