Fine arts are in survival mode as funds dry up - USATODAY.com - The Diigo Meta page

• 03 Mar 09
  

  Yule Heibel

  "It's frightening," says Lockwood Hoehl, BCO's executive director. "We're unfortunately at the bottom of the food chain. The general thought about the arts in our society is it's expendable."

  usatoday arts arts_funding financial_crisis

  • "It's frightening," says Lockwood Hoehl, BCO's executive director. "We're unfortunately at the bottom of the food chain. The general thought about the arts in our society is it's expendable."
  • "America is a practical nation that comes from very practical roots," says Robert Lynch of the advocacy group Americans for the Arts. "That practicality … is part of what we've had to overcome."
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  • • "Putting people to work is more important than putting more art on the wall of some New York City gallery frequented by the elite art community," said Republican Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia during the debate.

      
      

      Lynch calls that attitude "uninformed and perhaps disingenuous." His group estimates that non-profit arts organizations generate $166.2 billion each year in cultural and related spending such as restaurants and parking, and they produce $30 billion in tax revenue and 5.7 million jobs.

      
      

      "Those jobs are every bit as important as an auto industry worker," Lynch says. He says 10,000 arts groups employing 260,000 artists and support workers could close this year.

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