Agnes Gund on a Braver Defense of the Arts

Writing for Huffington Post, Agnes Gund responds to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee's recent vote to cut the budgets of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities by 49% in 2014, including arguments made for and against the cuts by House members:

I want to suggest that we must mount a braver defense of the arts, a more vigorous, vital, real-life defense. I have thought a lot about the true, deep and telling, urgent importance of the arts to Americans. In this time of financial trouble and international turmoil, the arts and the humanities provide more than 'enhancement,' more than 'benefit.' They provide insight; they provide incentive; they inspire. They give us answers.

She then explains how, using the examples of American Records Theater, the Transformer Station operated by Cleveland Museum of Art, and data demonstrating the benefits of K-12 arts education, particularly in high-poverty schools.

Read the full post here.