The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence.
[6] In 2016 and again in 2017, the National Endowment for the Arts received Emmy nominations from the Television Academy in the Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series category.
According to historian Karen Patricia Heath, "Johnson personally was not much interested in the acquisition of knowledge, cultural or otherwise, for its own sake, nor did he have time for art appreciation or meeting with artists.
[9] The NEA's advisory committee, the National Council on the Arts, advises the chairman on policies and programs, as well as reviewing grant applications, fundraising guidelines, and leadership initiative.
[citation needed] Artist William Powhida has noted that "in one single auction, wealthy collectors bought almost a billion dollars in contemporary art at Christie's in New York."
[citation needed] Upon entering office in 1981, the incoming Ronald Reagan administration intended to push Congress to abolish the NEA completely over a three-year period.
Reagan's first director of the Office of Management and Budget, David A. Stockman, thought the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities were "good [departments] to simply bring to a halt because they went too far, and they would be easy to defeat."
However, these plans were abandoned when the President's special task force on the arts and humanities, which included close Reagan allies such as conservatives Charlton Heston and Joseph Coors, discovered "the needs involved and benefits of past assistance," concluding that continued federal support was important.
[17][18][19] In 1989, Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association held a press conference attacking what he called "anti-Christian bigotry," in an exhibition by photographer Andres Serrano.
The work at the center of the controversy was Piss Christ, a photo of a plastic crucifix submerged in a vial of an amber fluid described by the artist as his own urine.
[20] Republican Senators Jesse Helms and Al D'Amato began to rally against the NEA, and expanded the attack to include other artists.
By withdrawing from the Mapplethorpe exhibition, we, the board of trustees and the director, have inadvertently offended many members of the arts community which we deeply regret.
"[21] Democratic representative Pat Williams, chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over the NEA reauthorization, partnered with Republican Tom Coleman to formulate a compromise bill to save the Endowment.
The court ruled in 524 U.S. 569 (1998), that Section 954(d)(1) is facially valid, as it neither inherently interferes with First Amendment rights nor violates constitutional vagueness principles.
[citation needed] The 1994 midterm elections cleared the way for House Speaker Newt Gingrich to lead a renewed attack on the NEA.
[citation needed] The budget outline submitted by then-president Donald Trump on March 16, 2017, to Congress would have eliminated all funding for the program.