Other societies may relax into stratification, or never seriously engage the continual confrontation and negotiation that define border life. Americans do not have that choice. Art is the true currency of border life. And, significantly, the language of border conflict is everywhere applied in discussions of American art. So, this border life, imposed by our democracy and sometimes seen as our principal burden and sometimes our great opportunity, is applied reflexively and appropriately when we talk of America's art, artists, and art making.
Art is the currency of the border.
Artists give us this currency of presentation, confrontation, negotiation, borrowing. Cultural historians must join with artists and policy makers to flesh out this metaphor, and connect creativity, cultural heritage, art, artists, and art making with public policy. First, although Congress has restricted our ability to provide direct support to artists, projects and services that directly benefit artists remain a major part of of the NEA's current programming. Second, we have begun to gather the evidence necessary to establish artists as a unique class of citizens and workers, a class of citizens that make an indispensible contribution to the lives of America's communities and families. Third, I have advanced some tentative ideas about the character of American society, and the unique role of the artist in America's perpetual border culture.