St. Paul Pioneer Press | 12/19/2004 | U.K. contrast shows pitiful state of arts funding

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 12/19/2004 | U.K. contrast shows pitiful state of arts funding: "Over here, meanwhile, the NEA receives $123 million a year — that's assuming it gets the $2 million bump for next year. Let's be generous and add in the roughly $36 million that the Department of Education earmarks for its Arts in Education program (money that the Bush administration wanted to eliminate but that Congress retained in its recent budget bill). That makes for a total of $159 million in federal support for the arts." wrote Papatola.

Compare this to the promise to fund the New Barnes Art Museum with $150 million. People act like artists are well off. Why? The value of a bunch of dead artists paintings make it seem like Americans care about art. The only people who will benefit will be the construction workers, and the museum staff. Where are the great American artists? Showing in commercial galleries and working at Home Depot or teaching other artists without any hope of making a living from their talent.

Artists don't need welfare just honest pay for their contribution to the American culture. The irony of the Barnes Art theft is that those who look at such a great synergy for the Parkway surely understand that they could never afford to go out and buy ten of the paintings Barnes collected. The only way they could get them was by moving them.