Commentary; Posted: 7/18/07
Bachmann no fan of National Endowment for the Arts
KARL BREMER
Guest Columnist
Always vigilant for our safety, Rep. Michele Bachmann on June 27 tried to save the Republic from the threat of performing and visual arts by voting to eliminate all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
But her effort failed miserably on a 335-97 vote; she was the only member of the Minnesota delegation who voted to defund the NEA.
So just who are these freeloaders in the Sixth Congressional District sucking at the teat of the taxpayer?
Andres Serrano?
Robert Mapplethorpe?
Let’s take a look at some recent recipients of NEA grants in the Sixth Congressional District and how much these nefarious groups have received from the NEA since 2002:
College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph: $92,500
St. John’s University, Collegeville: $35,000
Chamber Music Society of St. Cloud: $25,000
St. Cloud Civic Orchestra Association: $20,000
Paramount Arts Resource Trust, St. Cloud: $10,000
This doesn’t even count the NEA funds that go to state and regional arts organizations such as the Minnesota State Arts Board, and individual artists. Forty percent of all NEA program funds are re-granted through state arts agencies.
And on average, each NEA grant leverages at least seven dollars from other state, local and private sources.
NEA grants bring a taste of culture to parts of Minnesota that are underserved by the arts. Seven out of eight members of the Minnesota congressional delegation recognize that.
In the Sixth Congressional District, they’ve funded everything from dance performances to artists-in-residency to the work of world-renowned potter Warren MacKenzie of Stillwater. In addition to arts groups and individuals, activities funded by NEA grants involve many other organizations, such as battered women’s shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota, and senior centers.
So what is Bachmann’s problem with the arts? Does she believe the Sixth Congressional District is made up of a bunch of rubes who have no appreciation of culture beyond the crop art at the county fair?
To the contrary, even many of Bachmann’s supporters like to take in an occasional night at the orchestra or purchase a handmade work from a local artisan.
Compared with what we’re spending on the carnage in Iraq that Bachmann so fervently supports—about $100,000 a minute—you have to wonder where our congresswoman’s priorities are. When the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, it destroyed many of that country’s cultural treasures.
By trying to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, Michele Bachmann and her ilk are trying to accomplish the same thing in this country one vote at a time.
Karl Bremer is a writer who lives in Stillwater.
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