For the Poor, the Arts Are a Path to Opportunity
“To the Editor:
Re: “N.E.A. Funds Benefit Both Rich and Poor, Study Finds”
(Arts pages, Opinion, New York Times, Feb. 5):
A few years ago, a homeless girl in Los Angeles walked into a community arts center. Her name is Inocente. An Oscar-winning documentary by the same name told the story of how the arts turned her life around. Her success story illustrates the benefit of the arts to thousands of poor children and lower-income people all across our country.
The assertion by the House Budget Committee that the arts are the domain of the wealthy has proved to be a myth. A Southern Methodist University study reaffirms what nearly 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations already know. Public funding allows access to the arts for millions of Americans who otherwise couldn’t afford the benefit of the arts in their lives.
Arts are a path to opportunity. Businesses benefit from the creativity, perseverance and problem-solving skills that Americans develop through the arts. The arts drive private-sector investment and job creation. Every dollar of N.E.A. funding generates $9 of non-federal money to the arts, and the nonprofit arts industry generates 4.1 million jobs.
This new study can help educate our elected leaders from both sides of the aisle about the true value of the arts for all our children, our communities and our country.”
ROBERT L. LYNCH
ROBERT REDFORD
Washington, Feb. 7, 2014
Mr. Lynch is President and Chief Executive of Americans for the Arts, and Mr. Redford is the film actor and director.
Full Study here: “Do Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts Represent a Wealth Transfer from Poorer to Wealthier Citizens?”, http://bit.ly/1iQ762S
February 19, 2014
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Posted in: Advocacy, All, NEA
