Marete Wester

I love the spring for many reasons. For one, it often marks the start when the Americans for the Arts staff members begin receiving requests to meet with international visitors who are traveling in the United States. I love the visits, because it is always a fascinating opportunity to learn about cultural policy across the globe—from Iraq to South Korea to Germany.

In addition to government support in the United States, the question we are asked most often is, “How does our private sector model of support for the arts work?” It is no secret that in other countries throughout the world it is usually the government that is the largest patron of arts and culture. However, it is fair to say that many countries are putting increasing pressure on their cultural sector to think about how businesses and corporations and philanthropy can play a greater role in their support.

For better or worse, because the public/private sector support system is firmly embedded in our cultural DNA, we are the model the rest of the world comes here to learn more about.

This was in evidence last week when a colleague, Fran Smyth, and I met with representatives from the National Arts Council and National Heritage Board in the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Arts in Singapore. Our charge was to help them better understand how American business and philanthropy support the arts.

I’ll admit, sometimes it’s hard to have discussions, given some of the harsh realities about how our businesses, foundations, and individuals are supporting arts and culture in the current economic climate.

Despite the depressing statistics, our two guests were enthusiastic and breaths of fresh air.

They were intrigued when we segued into the somewhat bewildering aspects of the national arts and culture American system, including the role of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and why there is no ministry of culture to determine national goals for cultural policy.

And then came the big question.

Given all that we just said about our public sector system, and everything we know about private sector support, if we had the opportunity to build the system from the ground up, what would it look like?

I had 30 seconds. I issued my gut reaction: I like the Public/Private Sector support model.

There. I said it—and I am just as surprised by that as anyone, since I have complained incessantly about the problems with one half or the other at various times in my career (and even in the past hour. I will most likely think about something to complain about by the time I finish writing this blog).

Still, I find it hard to scrap it. Why? Public sector support for the arts guarantees a modicum of access for every citizen, and the chance for the arts to be a vital presence in every community. And while our current government investments are grossly minimal, by limiting the government role we do have the freedom and ability to creatively express ideas that stretch boundaries and push independent thought, despite the censorship battles we continue to fight.