Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano are now legendary, as much because of NEA support of their work as for the work itself. This is one example of what can happen when politics meets culture, and it provides an appropriate snapshot of the issues explored in this book. As in other policy areas, cultural policies develop within a particular political context, evolve as a consequence of government action or inattention, and affect a variety of publics and interests. In this volume, the contributors explore the inescapable politics accompanying public culture. Surveying the philosophical, economic, legal, and political underpinnings of cultural assistance, they articulate not only governments role in the support of the arts, but also basic questions for future cultural policy. Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano are now legendary, as much because of NEA support of their work as for the work itself. This is one example of what can happen when politics meets culture, and it provides an appropriate snapshot of the issues explored in this book. As in other policy areas, cultural policies develop within a particular political context, evolve as a consequence of government action or inattention, and affect a variety of publics and interests.Americas Commitment to Culture discusses government support of culture as a public policy area. The book focuses on the rationales underlying public support for the arts and examines the development and practice of government as an arts patron. The contributors explore the inescapable politics accompanying public culture. Surveying the philosophical, economic, legal, and political underpinnings of cultural assistance, they articulate not only governments role in the support of the arts, but also basic questions for future cultural policy.
Kevin V Mulcahy (Author) , Margaret J. Wyszomirski (Author)
From accord to discord - arts policy during and after the culture wars, Margaret Jane Wyszomirski; the politics of arts policy - subgovernment to issue network, M.J. Wyszomirski; federal arts patronage in the new deal, Lawrence D. Mankin; to change a nation's cultural policy - the Kennedy administration and the arts in the United States, 1961-1963, Milton C. Cummings, Jr.; the organization of public support for the arts, M.J. Wyszomirski and Kevin V. Mulcahy; leadership and the NEA - the roles of the chairperson and the National Council on the Arts, David B. Pankratz and Carla Hanzal; the NEA and the reauthorization process - Congress and arts policy issues, K.V. Mulcahy; the process of commissioning public scultpure - due or duel, Judith Huggins Balfe; the public interest and arts policy, K.V. Mulcahy.
