Bill Ivey's new book, Arts, Inc. How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights, combines personal and professional experience with policy analysis to make a case for reshaping America's cultural system. Twice elected Chairman of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Ivey was Director of the Country Music Foundation from 1971 to 1998, before serving as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (from 1998 through 2001.) On Thursday May 21st, 2009, the University of California Press in association with CORE: and Ovation TV hosted a panel discussion and book signing to consider the issues documented in Ivey's book. Gaynor Stachan-Chun, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Ovation TV, moderated the discussion with Mr. Ivey, Agnes Gund and Robert Lynch.












(from left to right: Gaynor Strachan-Chun, Robert Lynch, Agnes Gund and Bill Ivey)


Their conversation touched on a lot of really interesting issues, including: the value of creativity, how we pay for the arts, and what leaders might do to help the arts. As a citizen, and an advocate for the arts,  I question our government's spending priorities. We're spending billions and billions to save companies too large to fail, and not enough on smaller bailouts - including arts bailouts - that would reap larger and more widespread economic benefits. Michael Kaiser, arts organization guru and current President of the Kennedy Center wrote in the Washington Post that "the arts in the United States provide 5.7 million jobs and account for $166 billion in economic activity annually."  According to the GM website, that company employs just 252,000 - and that's globally - not just in the United States.  Why are we not spending more to save arts institutions? Given the many compelling priorities facing the administration such as the economy and Healthcare reform, and the competition for funding, I think public discussion about the arts, arts education and America's cultural system is critical.

Arts organizations rely on multiple revenue streams: earned revenue, private donations, foundation giving, and government funding. What this means is that public funds are leveraged by three other revenue streams. While for-profit business has one major stream (sales), non-profits are buoyed by four. Because three of the non-profit streams are shrinking, government funding now has an even larger impact than it usually does. There are two fields of inquiry that feed into a real answer to why we're not spending more on the arts. One has to do with how we participate in the arts (define it, fund it, and experience it), and the other has to do with the role of non-monetized products in our culture (including pure science research, the humanities, and the arts.)

Reporting earlier last week in the Los Angeles Times Charles McNulty defended President Obama's attendance at a Broadway show by summarizing Aristotle's understanding of theater. McNulty wrote, "Aristotle was the first to recognize the theater's unique potential to harness our deepest feelings of pity and fear in the service of an enlightenment that is ultimately in the public interest... Minds require education; souls need cultivation. The capacity for inner growth might be innate, but the tank demands fueling."

I am a dancer and choreographer myself, but in addition to my work as an artist, I am Chair of the DC Advocates for the Arts. The DC Advocates for the Arts represent artists and arts organizations in the District of Columbia in interaction with policy-makers to support local art. I want my work as an Artist to stand on its own as a contribution to the larger culture. But I see that our common understanding of what art is, and what art should be, really influence how my work is seen.

In this series of blog posts we'll look at some of the topics mentioned above with clips from the actual event. Ivey's book, and this event, are important contributions to our civic dialogue. I hope that you'll check back each Monday for the new posts and contribute to the on-going conversation on Arts in America.

Rob Bettmann for Ovation TV

Rob Bettmann is the current chair of the DC Advocates for the Arts. He's also a dancer, choreographer and writer based in the District of Columbia, and is editor of the online arts magazine Bourgeon. He blogs at www.dcblog43.com.