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Statement of

## Dana Gioia

# Chairman

National Endowment for the Arts

before the

Committee on Education and Labor

Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities

U.S. House of Representatives

May 8, 2008

**Prepared Statement of**

Dana Gioia, Chairman

National Endowment for the Arts

House Committee on Education and Labor

Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities

May 8, 2008

Madame Chairwoman and Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee:

I am honored to appear before the committee to report on the current
state of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and provide you with
information on our programs and national initiatives.

Over the last six years, the National Endowment for the Arts has
demonstrated what the agency can accomplish with a compelling vision and
exemplary performance. There is a new consensus in Washington and across
the nation that the National Endowment for the Arts makes a singular
contribution to the lives of all Americans. We do this by fostering
artistic excellence and bringing the best of the arts and arts education
to *all* Americans. I am proud to say that the agency is now operating
with high artistic standards, inclusive partnerships, improved
efficiency, and unprecedented democratic reach.

I. BACKGROUND

# ***The Current State of the Arts in America***

The arts are a reflection of America's identity and civilization --
dynamic, diverse and original. America's artistic achievements encompass
traditional fields like literature, concert music, painting, theater,
and design, and pioneering efforts in newer forms such as jazz, blues,
film, modern dance and musical theater. Over the past century, no other
nation has surpassed the United States in its creative achievements --
from the high arts to folk and popular arts. And it is not an accident
that there is a deep connection between creative genius in the arts and
our nation's success in science, business and technology.

In other ways, however, we are experiencing an impoverishment of
American culture. Fifty years ago, along with Mickey Mantle, Willie
Mays, and Sandy Koufax, most Americans could have named, at the least,
Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Arthur Miller, Thornton Wilder, Georgia
O'Keeffe, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Not
to mention scientists and thinkers like Linus Pauling, Jonas Salk,
Rachel Carson, and Margaret Mead.

Americans were not smarter then, but American culture was. Even the mass
media placed a greater emphasis on presenting a broad range of human
achievement. Televised variety programs like the *Ed Sullivan Show*,
featured classical musicians like Jascha Heifetz and Arthur Rubinstein,
opera singers like Robert Merrill and Anna Moffo and jazz greats like
Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The same was true of literature.
Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, Lillian Hellman and James Baldwin were
featured on general-interest television shows. All of these people were
famous to the average American -- because the culture considered them
important. Today, no citizen would encounter that range of arts and
ideas in the popular culture. Almost everything in our national culture,
even the news, has been reduced to entertainment, or altogether
eliminated.

This loss of recognition for artists and thinkers has impoverished our
culture in innumerable ways. Our children are not presented with role
models who lead a successful and meaningful life who are not denominated
by money or fame. Adult life begins in a child's imagination and we have
relinquished that imagination to the marketplace.

The role of culture must go beyond economics. Culture should help us
know what is beyond price and what does not belong in the marketplace --
providing some cogent view of the good life beyond mass accumulation. In
this respect, our culture is failing us.

***Arts Education***

There is only one social force in America potentially large and strong
enough to counterbalance this commercialization of cultural values --
our educational system. At one time the majority of public high schools
in this country provided a music program with choir and band, sometimes
a jazz band, or even an orchestra. High schools offered a drama program,
sometimes with dance instruction. And there were writing opportunities
in the school paper and literary magazines, as well as studio art
training.

We are sorry to note that these programs are no longer widely available.
This once visionary and democratic system has been almost entirely
dismantled by well-meaning but myopic school boards, county
commissioners and state officials. Art has become an expendable luxury,
and 50 million students have paid the price. Today a child's access to
arts education is largely a function of his or her parents' income.

The purpose of arts education is not to produce artists, though may be a
byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete
human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a
free society.

This is not happening now in American schools. The situation is a
cultural and educational disaster with huge and alarming economic
consequences. If the U.S. is to compete effectively in the new global
marketplace, it is not going to succeed through cheap labor or cheap raw
materials, nor even the free flow of capital or a streamlined industrial
base. To compete successfully, this country needs creativity, ingenuity
and innovation.

***Civic Engagement***

Marcus Aurelius believed that the course of wisdom consisted of learning
to trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones. Our
culture is trading off the challenging pleasures of art for the easy
comforts of entertainment. And that is exactly what is happening -- not
just in the media, but in our schools and in civic life.

Entertainment promises us a predictable pleasure -- humor, thrills,
emotional titillation or even the odd delight of being vicariously
terrified. It exploits and manipulates who we are rather than
challenging us with a vision of who we might become.

Recent studies conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts, in
partnership with the U.S. Census, have found that our country is
dividing into two distinct behavioral groups. One group spends most of
its free time sitting at home as passive consumers of electronic
entertainment. The other group also uses and enjoys the new technology,
but these individuals balance it with a broader range of activities.
They go out -- to exercise, play sports, volunteer and do charity work
at about three times the level of the first group. What is the defining
difference between passive and active citizens? It is not income,
geography or even education. It is whether or not they read for pleasure
and participate in the arts. These cultural activities seem to awaken a
heightened sense of individual awareness and social responsibility.

Today, there is a growing consensus across the country that something
must be done to fill the vacuum created in many lives with the dominance
of the commercial mass media and entertainment, and the loss of arts
education in our schools. The mission of the National Endowment for the
Arts is to provide national leadership to encourage and preserve
excellent art; to help make it available to all Americans, especially
those who traditionally have not had access to it because of economic
and geographic barriers; and to connect and engage children and youth
with America's distinguished artistic legacy.

#### II. NEA GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Over the last six years, the National Endowment for the Arts has
refocused its programs to emphasize excellence and service to the
American people. We have piloted and launched successful new approaches
to public outreach and retooled our capacity to develop and deliver
programs that celebrate the best of our culture.

Today, we celebrate America's great artists as recipients of NEA Jazz
Masters, NEA National Heritage Fellows, National Opera Honors
recipients, and National Medal of Arts awards \-- not only with a
one-time award, but also with national events broadcast on television
and radio. We showcase the contributions of Jazz, Shakespeare and poetry
in classrooms using our multi-media educational toolkits provided free
to middle and high school teachers. And we provide exemplary materials
and programming that make it possible for communities and generations to
come together to read of a literary masterpiece.

The Arts Endowment's programs now reach into every corner of our nation
--- bringing the best of the arts and arts education to the broadest and
most varied audiences possible.

NEA grants are producing economic benefits throughout the country by
nurturing local arts groups that enhance local economies. With each
dollar awarded by the NEA generating on average \$6-\$7 dollars from
other sources, the NEA is triggering an investment of approximately
\$600 million for the arts from private donors and non-federal sources.

We welcome this opportunity to showcase the following programs and
national initiatives that exemplify NEA's effort to serve the American
people through commitment to excellence, broad geographic reach, and
arts education.

> ***Challenge America: Reaching Every Community***
>
> The creation of the *Challenge America* program in 2001 marked a
> turning point in NEA history by challenging the NEA to broaden its
> service to Americans outside established cultural centers. The
> *Challenge America* program enabled the NEA to broaden the geographic
> distribution of grants; although initially, it failed to fully realize
> its goals of reaching the entire nation. In an average year, NEA
> direct grants collectively reached only about three quarters of the
> United States (as measured by Congressional districts). Consequently,
> areas of the nation representing more than 70 million citizens
> received limited direct service from the agency.
>
> Five years ago, we set the goal of awarding at least one direct grant
> to a deserving arts organization in every Congressional district in
> the United States. In fact, we even changed the name of the program
> from *Challenge America* to *Challenge America: Reaching Every
> Community*. More than just a name, this change reflected a renewed
> commitment to public service and outreach. In 2005, in 2006, and again
> in 2007, the NEA realized 100% coverage with direct grants awarded in
> all 435 districts. In 2008, the NEA will again achieve its 100%
> coverage goal. The Arts Endowment considers the new *Challenge
> America* program one of its central achievements.

### Partnerships

Everything the NEA does it does in partnership. This is most obvious in
the agency's basic grant matching requirements whereby the NEA leverages
federal dollars by achieving private sector matches. Less evident but
equally important this partnership strategy strengthens local arts
organizations and builds communities. NEA's project grants develop
partnerships in a direct way by encouraging local investment in arts
organizations. Our national initiatives create partnerships of enormous
range and diversity --- uniting government, non-profit, and private
sector organizations in support of arts and arts education across the
nation.

A *Big Read* grant, for example, originates from the Arts Endowment but
is administered by Arts Midwest, a regional arts organization. Each
grant is then awarded to a local applicant (usually a library, museum,
or literary organization) which uses it to build local partnerships that
can easily involve more than a hundred organizations, including schools,
newspapers, public radio and television stations, cultural institutions,
chambers of commerce, private business, and mayors' offices. Multiply
these local networks across hundreds of *Big Read* cities in all 50
states, and one finds tens of thousands of partners all focused on
celebrating literature. Such programs help realize the initial vision of
the NEA by its founders 43 years ago to be a catalyst of American
creativity in every corner of the nation.

#### III. NATIONAL INITIATIVES

***American Masterpieces***

Many Americans are unfamiliar with the significant artistic and cultural
achievements of our nation. They have few opportunities in school or
daily life to learn about the arts or acquire skills to appreciate or
participate in them. To address this challenge, the Arts Endowment
established *American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius*.
It vividly embodies the goals of excellence and outreach by featuring
educational programs along with presentations of artistic works
themselves.

Now in its fourth year, *American Masterpieces* has added chamber music
and presenting to visual arts, dance, choral music, musical theater, and
literature. *American Masterpieces* grants have enabled 31 museums in 16
states to tour exhibitions to 142 cities across the nation, reaching an
estimated audience of 12 million. Choral music grants have supported the
creation of eight regional festivals celebrating American choral music
in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Fifty-four grants are helping
dance companies and college dance programs revive and tour American
choreographic masterpieces. In musical theater, 13 theater companies in
18 states are reviving and touring significant American musicals. All
these programs are reaching underserved rural and urban communities and
introducing new generations to their rich artistic legacy.

### 

### The Big Read

In November 2007, the NEA followed its widely discussed 2004 report
*Reading at Risk* with a comprehensive new study *To Read or Not to
Read: A Question of National Consequence.* This new report presents the
results of governmental and private sector studies on reading. The data
in *To Read or Not To Read* paints a simple, yet sad, portrait of
reading in America today \-- ***Americans, especially teenagers and
young adults, are reading less.*** Because they read less, they do not
read as well. This decline in reading ability has a measurably negative
impact on their educational, economic, personal, and civic lives and our
nation's future.

Challenged to stem the decline in reading, the NEA has expanded the
literary component of *American Masterpieces* called *The* *Big Read.*
With Mrs. Laura Bush as its honorary chair, the Endowment is uniting
communities and generations through the reading and discussion of a
common book. To make *The Big Read* work, communities are creating new
partnerships involving schools, libraries, literary centers, arts
councils, dance and theater companies, symphony orchestras, museums, and
television and radio stations, as well as mayors' offices and chambers
of commerce -- all with the common goal of broadening the reading of
quality literature in every segment of the community.

In 2008, *The Big Read* will provide grants to cities, large and small,
across all 50 states. The goal is to reach a total of 400 cities,
touching every U.S. Congressional district. Widely covered in the press,
*The Big Read* has become a national symbol of the importance of reading
in a free society.

***Poetry Out Loud***

Meanwhile, the NEA's high school poetry recitation contest, *Poetry Out
Loud*, is currently completing its third national year in 2008.
Cosponsored by the state arts agencies, this highly popular program
reaches all fifty states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District
of Columbia. Since it began as a pilot program in 2005, nearly 450,000
students have entered the competition. This program combines literary
education and practical training in public speaking with the thrill of
competition.

One unexpected development in *Poetry Out Loud* has been its enormous
popularity with the press, which often covers this arts program as if it
were local sports. The NEA takes special pride in seeing young arts
participants recognized publicly in their own communities on a par with
local star athletes.

***Shakespeare in American Communities***

The NEA's Shakespeare program is now in its fifth year with *Shakespeare
for a New Generation*, a program that focuses on providing American
students an opportunity to see a live professional performance of
Shakespeare. By the end of 2008, some 175 grants will have been awarded
to 77 theater companies to bring productions of Shakespeare to more than
2,300 communities in mostly small and mid-sized cities, including18
military bases. Nearly 2,000 actors have performed for 1.2 million
students attending 3,600 middle and high schools.

The award-winning NEA *Shakespeare in American Communities* classroom
toolkit has now been distributed free to 55,000 schools (32% of which
are located in rural communities) reaching 20 million students. The
NEA's Shakespeare program has reached deeply into all 50 states with an
overwhelmingly positive response from teachers and students alike.

##### NEA Jazz in the Schools

The Arts Endowment's long-standing support of jazz was broadened in 2006
with the *NEA Jazz in the Schools* program, an engaging and substantive
introduction to jazz created for high schools. Developed with Jazz at
Lincoln Center, an academic tool-kit, made available in January 2006,
proved so popular that every kit was quickly requested by teachers
across the U.S. The NEA's recent budget increase allowed us to create
more kits to meet thousands of unfilled backorders. The *NEA Jazz in the
Schools* kit is now used by over 11,000 teachers in 8,100 schools across
all fifty states.

Used by teachers during Black History Month, as well as throughout the
year, the program reaches some 5.6 million students, introducing
students to jazz as a distinctively American art form as well as a
powerful and positive force in African-American social history. This
educational program was added while the agency maintained its *NEA Jazz
Masters* touring, radio, and awards programs.

***Operation Homecoming* and Other Programs for the Military**

The NEA concluded the first phase of its historic *Operation Homecoming*
program last year. Supported by The Boeing Company, the program brought
55 writing workshops to U.S. military bases in five countries, involving
6,000 troops and their spouses. The program climaxed with the
publication of wartime writing by U.S. troops in *The New Yorker* and a
volume by Random House, as well as the production of two films, one of
which became a finalist for the 2008 Academy Award for best full-length
documentary.

The program was so meaningful to U.S. troops that we initiated a second
phase focusing on the servicemen and servicewomen most deeply affected
by the war. Phase II of *Operation Homecoming* will sponsor extended
writing workshops led by noted American authors in 25 Veterans
Administration and Department of Defense medical facilities as well as
V.A. centers across the nation.

***International Initiatives***

When I came to the NEA in 2003, I was dismayed to learn how little was
done in international cultural exchange. Over the past few years, the
NEA has focused on developing several programs that showcase America's
artistic creativity and excellence abroad. We now provide assistance to
U.S. music and dance ensembles invited to perform in international
festivals, and we have joined with the Open World Leadership Program to
support short-term residencies for Russian artists and arts
administrators with U.S. arts groups.

As a partner in the State Department's Global Cultural Initiative
launched in 2006, the NEA has begun a series of international literary
exchanges with Russia, Mexico, Egypt, Pakistan, and other nations. The
State Department has recognized the potential of *The Big Read* to serve
as an effective vehicle for cultural diplomacy. *Big Read* programs have
now been initiated as mutual cultural exchanges between the U.S. and
Russia, Egypt, and Mexico. American novels are featured in civic reading
programs in those nations while classics of Russian, Egyptian, and
Mexican fiction have become part of the U.S. domestic program. These
bilateral literary programs also provide the basis for unprecedented
exchanges as groups of writers, teachers, and librarians visit the host
cities in each nation.

**IV. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE**

As we look to the future, at least two major challenges face the NEA and
the citizens it serves. The first is the diminished state of arts
education in the nation's schools. There is now an entire generation of
young Americans for whom the arts have not played a significant role in
their intellectual and personal development. This trend is not merely a
cultural matter but a social and economic one. As these young men and
women enter the new global economy of the twenty-first century, many of
them will not have had opportunities to develop the skills of innovation
and creativity they need to succeed. American schools need help to
better realize and achieve the full human potential of their students.
While we are proud of our current arts education programs, we are also
deeply conscious of the millions of students, especially in the earlier
grades, whom we do not reach at all.

The second challenge speaks to an even broader issue, namely America's
place in the world. The United States needs to expand its cultural
exchanges with other nations. This investment in cultural diplomacy
would not only benefit American artists by providing them with greater
opportunities, but more important, it would help the nation itself more
effectively communicate with the rest of the world in ways that
transcend political and economic issues. The arts have the potential to
represent the best aspects of a free and diverse democracy in a way that
speaks to the hearts and minds of people everywhere. It would be an
enormous missed opportunity if the United States did not use the
creativity of its own people in addressing the rest of the planet.

The arts offer us an irreplaceable way of understanding and expressing
the world -- equal to but distinct from scientific and conceptual
methods. Art addresses us in the fullness of our being -- simultaneously
speaking to our intellect, emotions, intuition, imagination, memory and
physical senses. There are some truths about life that can be ex pressed
only as stories or songs or images. Art delights, instructs, consoles.
It educates our emotions. And it remembers. Art awakens, enlarges,
refines and restores our humanity.

As we contemplate the future of the National Endowment for the Arts, we
remain confident in the continuing relevance of our mission to bring the
best of the arts---new and established---to all Americans. The Arts
Endowment's goal is to enrich the civic life of the nation by making the
fruits of creativity truly available throughout the United States. In a
dynamic nation with a growing and diverse population, this goal will
remain a constant challenge: a great nation deserves great art.