136. Editorial Note
In a May 26, 1971, memorandum to the heads of departments and agencies, President Richard Nixon referenced the increase in federal arts spending, specifically for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. Nixon acknowledged that the Endowment programs “are by no means the only Federal programs that affect, employ or contribute to the arts.” He continued: “It is my urgent desire that the growing partnership between Government and the arts continue to be developed to the benefit of both, and more particularly to the benefit of the people of America.” To that end, the President asked the agency and department heads to focus attention upon two questions: “First, how, as a part of its various programs, your agency can most vigorously assist the arts and artists; second, and perhaps more important, how the arts and artists can be of help to your agency and to its programs.” Nixon concluded by indicating that he had asked the Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts Nancy Hanks to coordinate the interagency response, due by September 20. (National Archives, RG 306, Director’s Subject Files, 1968–1972, Entry A1–42, Box 21, PPL—Program Coordination Women, Youth, Science, etc. 1971)
Under a June 3 covering memorandum, W. Kenneth Bunce, the Cultural Affairs Advisor in the Office of Policy and Plans, United States Information Agency (USIA), sent copies of the President’s memorandum to all USIA area and media directors; Agency Art Director Robert Sivard; Assistant Director for Administration Ben Posner; and Chief of the Exhibits Division of the Cultural Operations Division in the Office of the Assistant Director, Information Center Service, Gerhard Dreschsler. Bunce indicated that each “area and medium” within USIA was requested to “present its views in writing,” concerning the President’s questions, before June 25, in advance of a meeting designed to discuss a coordinated agency response. (Ibid.) In a September 17 memorandum from Associate Director for Policy and Plans Arthur Hoffman to USIA Director Frank Shakespeare, transmitting a draft reply of the proposed USIA response, Hoffman specified that Horace Dawson, who had replaced Bunce as Cultural Affairs Advisor, had prepared “the bulk of our response” in “collaboration with Areas and Media.” (Ibid.)
Shakespeare sent Hanks the final version of the USIA report under a September 20 covering memorandum. In it, Shakespeare commented: “We in USIA are particularly sensitive to the increasingly important role of artists in conditioning the quality of life in the United States. We recognize that, to a significant degree, the reputation of American civilization in the world is a measure of the place accorded to the arts in the United States. USIA’s policy directives and programs accordingly give due weight to these considerations.” (Ibid.)
[Page 351]The USIA report, entitled “The United States Information Agency and the Arts,” restated USIA’s task of portraying to foreign audiences American culture, noting that the Agency had used arts and artists in pursuit of this objective. It summarized the various types of arts programs conducted either under USIA auspices or with USIA support, highlighting the various visual and aural mediums employed, noting that while the examples employed in the report “are by no means exhaustive, the types of programs described are representative of the kinds of activities the Agency utilizes in support of artists and the arts. The Agency hopes that benefits are mutual. In addition to USIA objectives that are served by performers, the Agency becomes a link between American artists and other cultural traditions and art forms. Moreover, it provides opportunities for American artists to be seen and appreciated by foreign audiences. Like other branches of government, USIA is limited in what it can do by resources; however, the Agency’s conviction that the arts are an indispensable reflection of cultural life in the United States is a long standing one.”
The conclusion of the report presented the following recommendations:
“In considering how the arts and artists can be of further help to USIA, the major point is that the Agency, given its objective of reflecting the cultural image of the United States, could do a great deal more of what it is now doing in this field if more opportunities and resources were available.
“American artists in fairly large numbers are already seen under commercial or private auspices in the principal cities of Western Europe and Latin America. It would be helpful if more of them could be made available for performances in the smaller centers of those areas and, even more importantly, in the Middle East, the Far East, and in Africa.
“As has been noted, financial considerations often make it necessary for USIS posts to program the young and less well known artists rather than the more established ones. And even in many of these instances, it is necessary for the artist to accept a smaller honorarium than would be the case under normal commercial arrangements. A greater willingness on the part of artists to do this would increase programming opportunities considerably for USIS posts.
“Present arrangements with the Smithsonian Institution call for six art exhibitions to be sent abroad for Agency purposes during the coming year. Twice that number would be more representative. And as with performing artists, it is certainly desirable that ways be found to accommodate the increasing demand for exposure to American art in developing areas, especially in Africa. Climatic conditions, storage, freight costs, and logistical programs have militated against this in the past.
[Page 352]“In connection with art exhibitions, it would greatly enhance their impact if artists were able to travel with them and to establish contact with audiences, especially with their own creative counterparts and with indigenous intellectuals. Although such an idea would be exactly suited to one man shows, it would be feasible also even when a variety of works is on display.
“A further and direct contribution to the graphic arts—and also assistance to USIS posts—would be the purchase of original paintings and sculpture for permanent display in USIS centers abroad. Works of this kind could also be placed in the homes of officers. These two outlets offer excellent possibilities for acquainting foreign audiences with the wealth of creative vision among American artists. This might be a program comparable to a similar one in aid of the arts during the Depression years.
“Along these same lines, it might be possible to have a number of young American artists (including those in the graphic arts) to remain for extended periods in foreign countries working with students while learning aspects of the arts of the host countries. The idea would be especially adaptable to less developed countries, where the artists would teach as well as work or study. This might be a kind of artistic Peace Corps.
“A matter of some importance to media branches in the Agency, especially to the Voice of America and to our Film and Television Service, is that of recording performances or parts of performances for use in programs abroad. The Agency was denied recording rights at the opening of the Kennedy Center. There was world-wide interest in this event. It had historic significance. USIA’s media should have been permitted to record it for contemporary overseas audiences and for posterity.
“In order to avoid this type of problem in the future, it would be helpful if the National Endowment for the Arts and similar government granting bodies would write into their grants the requirement that the Agency have recording, film, and video tape rights for non-commercial educational and/or informational use overseas.” (Ibid.)