Edited by: Joni M. Cherbo and Margaret Jane Wyszomirski
Subject: Art/Public Policy
Paperback ISBN 0-8135-2768-6
Pages: 288 pp.
Description: Nine contributors offer new ways to think about U.S. policy for the arts

Art and entertainment constitute America's second-largest export. Most Americans-96%, to be exact-are somehow involved in the arts, whether as audience participants, hobbyists, or via broadcast, recording, video, or the Internet. The contribution of the arts to the U.S. economy is stunning: the nonprofit arts industry alone contributes over 857 billion dollars per year, and America's fine and performing arts enjoy world-class status.

Despite its size, quality, and economic impact, the arts community is not articulate about how they serve public interests, and few citizens have an appreciation of the myriad of public policies that influence American arts and culture. The contributors to this volume argue that U.S. policy can-and should-support the arts and that the arts, in turn serve a broad rather than an elite public. Indeed, increased support for the arts and culture equals good economic and trade policy; it also contributes to the quality of life and community, and helps sustain the creativity of American artists and organizations.

By encouraging policy-makers to systematically start investigating the crucial role and importance of all of the arts in the United States, The Arts and Public Purpose moves the field forward with fresh ideas, new concepts, and important new data.

Contents:

Mapping the Public Life of the Arts in America, Joni M. Cherbo and Margaret J. Wyszomirski

Toward an American Arts Industry, Harry Hillman Chartrand

Raison d'Etat, Raisons des Arts: Thinking About Public Purposes, Margaret J. Wyszomirski

Public Involvement in the Arts, Judith Balfe and Monnie Peters

American Public Opinion About the Arts and Culture: The Unceasing War with Philistia, John P. Robinson and Therese Filicko

The Government and Cultural Patronage: A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Patronage in the United States, France, Norway, and Canada, Kevin V. Mulcahy

The Career Matrix: The Pipeline for Artists in the United States, Ann M. Galligan and Neil O. Alper

Economics of the Nonprofit Arts: Structure, Scope, and Trends, Charles M. Gray and James Heilbrun

Flickering Images: The Business of Hollywood, Harold L. Vogel

Joni Cherbo has co-authored American Participation in Opera and Musical Theater and Outsider Art: Contesting Boundaries in Contemporary Culture. Margaret Jane Wyszomirski is director of the arts policy and administration program at the Ohio State University. She has co-edited and contributed to Arts, Ideology, and Politics and America's Commitment to Culture: Government and the Arts.

Rutgers Series on the Public Life of the Arts