Word: nea
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SINCE THE FEDERAL government ordered the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) not to fund any work considered "obscene," Harvard has done nothing substantial to combat constraints on freedom of expression...
While the NEA contract exempts works of proven artistic merit, smut charges are all too frequently leveled at works of substance. Classics such as Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye have been banned in school libraries around the U.S.; many who urge antipornography rules at the NEA also perceive rampant obscenity in prime-time TV. As pro-NEA Representative Sidney Yates of Illinois argues, "Shakespeare can be kind of bawdy. The NEA's contract could encourage people to criticize grants for the presentation of his plays." Opponents of the NEA's new language also fear it could lead...
...dozen organizations have spurned the NEA outright or formally objected and threatened to sue. While many of the grants being turned down are relatively small -- the $49,500 to the Oregon troupe is half of 1% of its $10 million annual budget -- winning NEA funds has traditionally served as a legitimizing sign of merit and has led to larger donations from corporations, foundations and patrons...
...arts community is far from unanimous in thinking that refusing NEA money is wise. Says Jack O'Brien, artistic director of the Old Globe Theater in San $ Diego: "I think it plays right into the hands of the enemies of the NEA. It allows them to say, 'See, these arts groups don't even need it.' The central point is that this system works. By and large, the money goes to the right places, and after two decades there hasn't been a hint of fraud or scandal. What other Government program can say that...
Arts leaders are pondering new maneuvers: mounting an aggressive ad campaign against North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, an enemy of the NEA, or taking NEA money but publicly disavowing the pledge they have signed, thus daring the Government to litigate First Amendment issues. The leaders agree on one thing: just when artists thought they demonstrated the value of their work to the nation, it has become clear that the task of educating the public has only begun...