Mr. Chairman, as part of my effort to create a more holistic synergy between the arts and the communities in which they flourish, the Endowment in 1996 launched American Canvas, a year-long effort to bring together people from all walks of society to gain a better understanding of how the arts transform communities, and how they may be supported better. Funded almost entirely from private contributions, the Endowment convened forums in seven cities across the United States. Through these meetings, artists together with educators, businesspeople, clergy, elected officials, and many others worked together to develop new strategies for supporting the cultural infrastructure that every healthy community needs to have. The major objective of American Canvas, and the report we are working on now, is to give communities tools for understanding the value of their cultural attractions, and tools for preserving and enhancing those attractions. Mayors and other local leaders know culture has more to it than aesthetics.
Culture makes cities livable and attractive.
Cultural institutions can be the difference between winning or losing the competition for economic development. Mr. Chairman, I could go on about the many things we are working to accomplish, but I want to take a moment to consider some of the things that we are not able to do. Prior to 1996, the National Endowment for the Arts was averaging approximately 4,000 grants each year. In fiscal 1996, a transition year in which we were cut by 39 percent, we made approximately 2,000 grants under both the old and the new systems. In 1997, the first year in which new system was in place for the entire grant-making cycle, we expect to make about 1,100 grants.