For art in a democracy cannot be regarded as a luxury. Thus art is of little value in a democracy as long as it remains an esoteric cult, appreciated only by the few. It must increasingly be appreciated by many, and thus eventually become the strong, rhythmic and natural expression of the free life of a free people. The Museum of Modern Art, making available a folio of reproductions of Bonnard, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Homer, Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir is laying the foundation for democratic art in this country, as are the small Federal Art galleries in some fifty towns throughout America. There is another function of art which is particularly potent in helping people create their own democracy.
Art has the power to make people identify themselves with that they hear or behold.
The Mississippi runs to the Gulf. Watching such a picture, listening to the New World Symphony, walking through an exhibit of the Index of American Design, we become bigger than we are. We become better citizens, better workmen, better lovers. We share in a creative act. Herein lies the supreme contribution that the arts can make to democracy, that they oppose against the destructive forces without and within, a positive creative force, a formidable upthrust of power.