Federalizing the muse: United States arts policy and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1965-1980

Donna M. Binkiewicz

University of North Carolina Press, Aug 23, 2004 - Art - 295 pages

The National Endowment for the Arts is often accused of embodying a liberal agenda within the American government. In Federalizing the Muse, Donna Binkiewicz assesses the leadership and goals of Presidents Kennedy through Carter, as well as Congress and the National Council on the Arts, drawing a picture of the major players who created national arts policy. Using presidential papers, NEA and National Archives materials, and numerous interviews with policy makers, Binkiewicz refutes persisting beliefs in arts funding as part of a liberal agenda by arguing that the NEA's origins in the Cold War era colored arts policy with a distinctly moderate undertone. Binkiewicz's study of visual arts grants reveals that NEA officials promoted a modernist, abstract aesthetic specifically because they believed such a style would best showcase American achievement and freedom. This initially led them to neglect many contemporary art forms they feared could be perceived as politically problematic, such as pop, feminist, and ethnic arts. The agency was not able to balance its funding across a variety of art forms before facing serious budget cutbacks. Binkiewicz's analysis brings important historical perspective to the perennial debates about American art policy and sheds light on provocative political and cultural issues in postwar America.

Contents

• Prelude to Policy: 11
• The Pluralist Seventies: 179
• Conclusion: 217

About the author

Donna Binkiewicz teaches history at California State University, Long Beach.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Federalizing the muse: United States arts policy and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1965-1980
• Author: Donna M. Binkiewicz
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press, 2004
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Dec 3, 2009
• ISBN: 0807828785, 9780807828786
• Length: 295 pages
• Subjects: Art / Art & Politics; Art / Business Aspects; Art / General; Art and state; Art and state - United States; Art and state/ United States; Federal aid to the arts; Federal aid to the arts - United States - History - 20th century; Federal aid to the arts/ United States/ History/ 20th century; History / United States / 20th Century; National Endowment for the Arts - History; Political Science / American Government / General; Political Science / Public Policy / Cultural Policy; Social Science / Popular Culture; United States; âEtats-Unis/ Histoire/ 20e siáecle