Public funding remains the most pressing and controversial issue facing the arts.
In our case, much of the funding reaches us through the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, and is most visible in the arts festivals and other activities of local arts councils. If the NEA and the PCA are finally accountable to us, our local arts councils are also accountable to them. There are two distinct art worlds which rely heavily on government support, and for all practical purposes the boundary between them is drawn at the local level. It is aware of itself as having a place. In short, it is serious work.