NEA being used to promote the Obama Administration's policies? (1 Viewer)

[IntenseSaint]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/politicizing_the_arts_VdwafgkeKv3ag9x15KpNZJ

The NEA, along with the White House Office of Public Engagement and United We Serve (the administration's volunteerism initiative), had invited 75 members of the arts community to listen to a discussion supposedly about national service. But one invitee, film producer Patrick Courrielche, soon blogged that the call turned out to be an effort to get participants to push the administration's agenda: "They told us: We had played a key role in the election and now Obama was putting out the call of service to help create change. We knew 'how to make a stink,' and were encouraged to do so."
In other words, the nation's top funder of the arts was abusing its position as custodian of taxpayer dollars to promote the Obama agenda

If true, is this an appropriate use of taxpayer funds?

 

[BHM]

His Hitler scheme continues...

 

[IntenseSaint]

His Hitler scheme continues...

Don't take this thread down that path please.

 

[MLU]

Well, the NEA is a labor union and well known supporter of all things Democratic Party.

File this one under "Duh"...

 

[bearze34]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/politicizing_the_arts_VdwafgkeKv3ag9x15KpNZJ




If true, is this an appropriate use of taxpayer funds?

I don't think so, but then again I don't think that union dues should be used on any political issue at all. Why not use the millions that some unions spend on politics to help displaced union members? I remember when I was a member of the oil, chemical and atomic workers union they had spent literally half the budget of the local on politics, both directly and via the national olffce, and then raised our dues to get a new building and replace the roof. It made me sick but these decisions are out of the dues paying members' hands. I don't care what party they donate to, it is wrong.

 

[ArmoredNOSaint]

It's the National Endowment for the Arts, not the National Education Association. And yes, it is a questionable use of taxpayer dollars.

 

[mister pc]

IntenseSaint, that path is unavoidably where this is going, by design. here is the glenn beck show interviewing Pat Courrielche. if you have the time and stomach to read this piece it is a very interesting study on the way the smear machine works.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,545660,00.html

Beck starts out with the obligatory 9/11 homage, moves right along to the Nazi comparison. Then "im going to show you something that will scare the living daylights out of you". Against this backdrop that is prepared, a couple quotes are taken out of context to create an alarming but unrealistic impression. the program "United We Serve", is considered an integral part of the recovery and will be increasing significantly under Obama. The goal is to encourage and facilitate service projects that will help the country recover. this is from the serve.gov website

United We Serve will empower Americans to participate this summer by:

• Promoting clean energy, energy efficiency, and public land restoration.
• Supporting education and literacy for all Americans.
• Increasing health care access, public health awareness, and prevention.
• Providing community renewal to areas hardest hit by the economic crisis.
• Ensuring our communities are safe from disasters and our veterans and military families are supported.


http://www.serve.gov/assets/documents/factsheet_uws.pdf

not so scary. but this is what Courrielche and Beck are up in arms about:

"With the knowledge that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when given the proper tools, President Obama is asking us to come together and help lay a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda — health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education and community renewal."

there is nothing new there at all. The Obama Administration has issued a call to service for people to donate their labor in one of these areas. One of the national service days is actually coming up this week on the eleventh. The purpose is to get people working to make the community better, with the idea that Americans can help the country recover by doing something good and selfless. focusing your efforts to promote literacy, or help those in need of medical or humanitarian assistance, or land restoration, these are all good things. its not insidious, but somehow they've done it again and here we are with the Nazi germany comparison.

 

[IntenseSaint]

Even though Beck is a sniveling cry baby(it is HILARIOUS to see him do one of his crying tirades) it still does not take away from a very real issue.

Just because a moonbat holds the same opinion on something does not make it any less credible. Like a said once before, if David Duke decides he likes Mozart as a composer does not mean that suddenly Mozart is not one of the most gifted musical minds of our time.

The NEA is an organization to help keep the creative juices of our country flowing. It is intended as a means to help artists to able to put their expression on the medium they can communicate best. It is not to be used as a propaganda arm of one administration or another for means of pushing their legislative agenda.

 

[mister pc]

The NEA is an organization to help keep the creative juices of our country flowing. It is intended as a means to help those be able to put their expression on their medium they can communicate best. It is not to be used as a propaganda arm of one administration or another for means of pushing their legislative agenda.

its not pushing a legislative agenda. If Obama were commissioning artwork to promote his plan for cap and trade, or his specific health care package, then that would be pushing a legislative agenda. United We Serve was commissioning artwork to promote service projects, aiming to inspire service in these areas:

• Promoting clean energy, energy efficiency, and public land restoration.
• Supporting education and literacy for all Americans.
• Increasing health care access, public health awareness, and prevention.
• Providing community renewal to areas hardest hit by the economic crisis.
• Ensuring our communities are safe from disasters and our veterans and military families are supported.


The effort is to encourage individual citizens to donate their labor to help make their communities better. Its not promoting an Obama policy vs a GOP policy, it is promoting the general well being of our society. All of these bulleted items are good things, i dont know anyone D, R, or I, that could say its bad to have volunteers working in those areas.

 

[IntenseSaint]

• Promoting clean energy, energy efficiency, and public land restoration.
• Supporting education and literacy for all Americans.
• Increasing health care access, public health awareness, and prevention.
• Providing community renewal to areas hardest hit by the economic crisis.
• Ensuring our communities are safe from disasters and our veterans and military families are supported.

And these are noble causes. But should be left to the discretion of each individual artist if they want to take their art in that direction. Now that the NEA is pushing this it would make me think if I were an artist the NEA might award me with grant money if I were to theme my craft in one of these directions. This is influence no matter how you look at it. I don't think it is proper use of the NEA.

But I ask you, is it the job of the NEA to push artists in one direction or another with their expression?

 

[ArmoredNOSaint]

As told by Peter Griffin on Family Guy:

Q: What's the difference between art and pornography?

A: A government grant.

 

[jpcdolphan]

And these are noble causes. But should be left to the discretion of each individual artist if they want to take their art in that direction. Now that the NEA is pushing this it would make me think if I were an artist the NEA might award me with grant money if I were to theme my craft in one of these directions. This is influence no matter how you look at it. I don't think it is proper use of the NEA.

But I ask you, is it the job of the NEA to push artists in one direction or another with their expression?

There's more than one side to this story, though.

Some of what Courrielche claims has been disputed by other people taking part in the call. Even he says that the directives are "implied", rather than stated and he does have a past history of being upset with the arts community for not going after Obama.

Even on the clips that Beck has, Sergant is noting that the legality isn't clear to him and that needs to be solidified before they know how to proceed. And since he refers to what "the corporation" is looking for, that lends credence to the position that this isn't Obama administration policy.

I'm all for being vigilant but I also am all for having substantiated proof that something below board is going on before I call for hearings or anything like that.

 

[IntenseSaint]

There's more than one side to this story, though.

Some of what Courrielche claims has been disputed by other people taking part in the call. Even he says that the directives are "implied", rather than stated and he does have a past history of being upset with the arts community for not going after Obama.

Here is an actual image of the email:

 

[mister pc]

And these are noble causes. But should be left to the discretion of each individual artist if they want to take their art in that direction. Now that the NEA is pushing this it would make me think if I were an artist the NEA might award me with grant money if I were to theme my craft in one of these directions. This is influence no matter how you look at it. I don't think it is proper use of the NEA.

But I ask you, is it the job of the NEA to push artists in one direction or another with their expression?

it is my understanding the administration was calling for artists to volunteer their talents in promotion of the 9/11 service project. There were no fiscal payments to the artists, so to answer the OP question it cannot be considered an abuse of tax payer funds since none were used. Is it the job of the NEA to push artists in one direction or another? Yeah, it is.

Grant Information

The NEA awards grants to non-profit organizations for arts projects that are of national, regional, or field-wide significance; that tour in several states; or that provide an unusual or especially valuable contribution because of geographic location. Grants are awarded also for local projects that can have significant effects within communities or that are likely to serve as program models.

Funding is available for projects in the following fields: dance, design, folk & traditional arts, literature, media arts (film, radio, television), museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater and visual arts. The NEA also awards grants to local and State Arts Agencies and to Regional Arts Organizations.


Funding Categories

Access to Artistic Excellence: Projects that foster and preserve excellence in the arts and provide access to the arts for all Americans. An organization may request a matching grant from $5,000 to $150,000. Application deadlines: March 12, 2007 and August 13, 2007.

Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast-Track Review Grants: Grants for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations. Matching grants are for $10,000. Application deadline: June 1, 2007.

Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth: Projects that enhance the quality of, and access to, arts education for children and youth. Matching grants are from $5,000 to $150,000.

Some grants are awarded for purely aesthetic merits (artistic excellence), some grants are also awarded to projects for their benefit to the community. for example here is a grant that was issued under the Bush Administration

826 Valencia
San Francisco, CA
$12,000
To support writing programs and the publication of student work. Professional artists will teach creative writing to at-risk youth in under-performing schools.

promoting literacy to at risk impoverished youths. common good type stuff. Not any different from the national day of service that the Obama Administration was asking for artwork to promote.

Our Chapter is proud to relay this call to action from the Obama administration and the NEA. If you are involved in an activity that can be included in this project. Please contact us with the details. If you want to initiate a project, tell us about it… we will promote it to our members and communities to find others to participate.

White House calls on AIGA members to help promote community service opportunities
Designers to use their skills in promoting and documenting opportunities

NEW YORK, June 29, 2009. The White House and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) have requested AIGA members’ help in promoting public service opportunities in their communities during the “United We Serve” initiative, a summer of community involvement culminating in a National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, 2009.

On behalf of the Obama administration, the NEA has asked members of AIGA, the professional association for design, to visually promote local opportunities for community service and then create a visual record of the results. “Designers should be involved as citizens and as designers. Each designer has the ability to move others by making stories visible and capturing the community experience,” said AIGA Executive director Richard Grefé.

How AIGA members can get involved
Find community service projects in your area on Serve.gov, then work with the project organizers to visually promote the event, program or call for service. This could take the form of a poster, brochure, website or any other type of visual communication encouraging others to get involved.

Record and share the results by uploading your photos to Flickr using the tag designserves. Share photos of your work being used to promote a local opportunity (e.g., your poster on a bulletin board or a brochure on a registration table) or photos of people in action completing service projects (e.g., volunteers building a playground or planting a garden).

Send a PDF of your design to AIGA for inclusion in a slideshow this fall on www.aiga.org. Include

1) credits for those involved with the design,
2) the name of the organization or group performing the service, if applicable, and
3) the title of the community service project.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache...id+"united+we+serve"&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

[jpcdolphan]

Here is an actual image of the email:

That e-mail seems rather boilerplate. The guy from the NEA is sending out a notice that United We Serve will be hosting a conference call with a theme of Obama's wish for more community engagement. You can see that the notice is after his signature so it looks like he just attached that part from some other source. The NEA is just tagging onto, and participating in, this conference call. It doesn't look like their program.

No threats, no implications, no agenda other than what is clearly stated.

And, once again, the (only) guy that is making a stink about this is clearly anti-Obama and has publicly been so. Nothing wrong with that...is this America, but it does mean that I'm going to need corroboration that any "plots" were hatched before I get upset about this.

Obviously Courrielche didn't feel threatened or intimidated for not going along with whatever it was that allegedly happened.