Kilpatrick, James J.

English

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University of Rhode IslandDigitalCommons@URIBiddle, Livy: Chairman of the National Endowmentfor the Arts (1977-1979)Education: National Endowment for the Arts andHumanities, Subject Files II (1962-1996)1977Biddle, Livy: Chairman of the NationalEndowment for the Arts (1977-1979): NewsArticle 24James J. KilpatrickFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/pell_neh_II_28This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Education: National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, Subject Files II(1962-1996) at DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biddle, Livy: Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts(1977-1979) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@etal.uri.edu.Recommended CitationKilpatrick, James J., "Biddle, Livy: Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (1977-1979): News Article 24" (1977). Biddle,Livy: Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (1977-1979). Paper 30.http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/pell_neh_II_28/30http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/pell_neh_II_28/30----------··-·· .. -..... . . . -~mnes .J. Ki~patri1..k I. B~1d art ·or good, we. sl1011ld11't pay Let me return, if I may, to the business of the crepe p;1pcr, the sky Jivns. the s1uhn1: senator and the six thousand dollars. l\lich;icl St ai1:ht has som c further rcf1cctions, anJ his further reflections prompt my fur-ther renections. To rcrresh your memory: A year or so nr.o, a Pitts·· hur~h artist, Le Ann \Vik· ch11~ky, ob1a111cd a i:rant of Sf .1l2S from the National Endowment for the Arts for th1· production of a 20· m111ute film. ParJ iif the gr<1•1t financed a wtck in thr C.1rtbbcan for the artist ;md her husband, where he photoj':raphcd her at wnrk. l\11ht of the b;ilance paid for a short flight in a sm.111 I.inc over El Paso in Au· \............._J1st of 1976. It was dunni: ~1is flight that four rolls of crepe paper were unrolled ru~:,CtlA.LLY l PRWJifD lH[ , [)00,...\ Mn·..\fSS Bt.!_~ All 1Ht.S£ [(Ol0GIS1S STARHD ~N\t-<G IN'· .vhile a· camera recorded Performance Arlists: Mini- One throur.h Article Seven the interest1ni.: scene. mdists and Mmimal·Srs· and find not one ~hru.I uf Word of this expenditure ternaticists; Traditionalists authority for C11n1:rt·,s to cvcntunlly floated b;ick to committed to form, and spend the people's mutH'Y in Scn;itor W\llinn1 Proxmire lconodasts, whose sworn tl11s fashion. The powl'r s11:1· of Wisconsin. The senator purpose is to nnnihilatc all ply is not there. Only by hit the ceilinl:. all splat- form in the visual arts. strctchinr: the t;c1H:r;.J 11L'I· tercd out, nod some time Given this ranr.c, standards fare clau~c to its u1111ost ·elapsed before he returned. become meaninr,lcss; no limit car even a tenuous r;i-to the floor. Then he de-· consensus can be assured." tion;iliz<itinn be found for nounccd the award as· Mr. Strni1:ht's iJca is to these cx.penJ1tures. "outrar,cous," nm.I aw;.irded increase the (lllhlic funds rven if the ~·onstituti'nn the National Ent.lowment' avail<.1blc for 111J1viJ11al arl- pcr1nittcd ~uch outl;q s, for the Arts his Golden ists, but h· change the 1~rant federal subsid1e!'. wou!J re-Flcece of the Month. procedures. 'le would halt main a 110(,r.1Jea. i\t ~ nr Now Michael Straight,:. direct "handouts," which given moment. thou~•mds of acting chairman or the pnpctuate the alir.n;itwn artists, sculptors. poets, EnJowment, h;is Cl,rne forth between the ;1rti~t and the novelists. playwr11;hh anJ with a useful sur:1:estion: taxp;iycr. lnstc<id;11c woul<I composers ;ire at \\'<,rk. If The Endowment itself, he h:wc the government match public funds arc r.1\ en tu says, should stop making di· purchase awards by art mu- Poet A, th'.' funJs llll,q be rect gronts to indivi,1uaf seums. puhlisl crs and Jocnl denied Poet U. If the 1:ov-ar1ists, composers, poets symphonies. By disper~in1: errimcnt smiles upon S..:ulp nnd the 1ikc. Such grants· the "patronar:c power," he tor C, whose ;oirt is to ~1n:i,l·, lay the Endowment open to feels, a maior obstacle to tin cans, ~uch financ1;i! aid attack, ;ind cause more the continued growth of mu~t be ucnied S..:ulp1ilr ~). trouble than they arc worth. public fundin1: for the arts who carve~ on classic l\fr. Strai1:ht nsks: How is· artistic cxcellc11cc to he determined? It mny he possible to re~ch a consen-sus in some areas. If 30 young pianists compete in il hlind competition, playing the identical work, a crJrnpctent jury usual I y will arrive at · i11:rcement on their t;ilcnt. The sarne thin{! is true, Mr. Strait:ht he-licvcs, of works of litera-ture. But what of the visual a rt s? lie re agreement comes hard. "The re ;ire Anti-Object Artists, and Earthwork Arl· ists, Conceptual Artists ond 51fJ ~· , could ')e removed. themes. Erica Joni: 1:01 The 1:c11tle1!1a11's proposal1 SS,Jt>O of the people's 1:10m·y makes sense; it ou~ht to be .. in ord :r to write a ,Jirt'y promptly approved by Con- ,hook, "Fear of Flyin\:" ls 1:ress. If some stale or pri- this what we have tu.pay vatc museum had hem will- taxes for?" in!! to put up SJ,000 toward No, sir. Artists, writer~ Ms. Wilchusky's crt.!pe and composers should make paper epic, at least the Na- it on their own, or noJt ·1t all tional Endowment could Once the r,overnment have duckl'd h:ilf its rcspon· star1?s its imprimatur r111· .~ihilily. But Mr. Straight's thei. works, lhc ho\·crn· tcmporizin1: sui:1:e ·tion mcnt makes the rJL".' un-bei:c the funJarncntal issue fair. Con1:ress is forbidden Tuis is the funJau1ental to make any law rcspcct1111: issue: What is the ftotll'r;il an establishment n~ rl·ii· government doing 111 the ginn; hy the same toht'n, it arls husinl'ss in the first ou1:hno he prohibited f1n:n place' Y•1u cnn search the funding an cstablishnwnt of C0nstitution from Article art. .. p 

Biddle, Livy: Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (1977-1979): News Article 24

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Biddle, Livy: Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (1977-1979): News Article 24

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