July 2011
Dudley Cocke
Published in:
GIA Reader, Vol 22, No 2 (Summer 2011)The story of the 1997 arts recession begins in 1980 when the right wing, spurred on by Ronald Reagan's election, instigated a campaign to defame the National Endowment for the Arts. The ultimate goal was complete elimination of the federal agency established in 1965 by an act of Congress with the mandate to dedicate itself “to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.”