President Obama and Kalpen “Kumar” Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
Dear President Obama:
A recent blog post by Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Courrielche details an August 10, 2009, conference call hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The stated purpose of the call was to encourage a select group of artists “to help lay a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.” …
“A reasonable observer would view the NEA’s participation in the August 10 call as implying that NEA grant opportunities (i.e., taxpayer dollars) may be tied to artists’ willingness to use their creative talents to advance your Administration’s political agenda. This is not, and has never been, the purpose of the NEA.
“Such politicization of the NEA is particularly dangerous at a time when the arts community struggles for philanthropy. But even if no NEA funding was intended for political purposes, one cannot escape the disturbing impression that this Administration-including appointees within the White House and the NEA-believes that it is appropriate for the federal government to enlist the arts community for the purpose of furthering a specific political agenda. I agree with President John F. Kennedy, who said that ‘[w]e must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.'”
[You can read the Senator’s letter in full here.]
See also:
WHO SET UP GOVERNMENT ‘PROPAGANDA’ CONFERENCE CALL? Newly Revealed White House, NEA Audio Contradict
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