A scene from "Change," a documentary about Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, from Art21.
The National Endowment for the Arts, a major supporter of PBS shows devoted to the performing arts and independent documentaries, is proposing substantial cuts in their financing. The New York Times has reported that the reductions would strip more than $1 million in federal production aid from PBS shows, which have been hard-pressed for financing in recent years. The money falls under the NEA’s 2012 Arts in Media grant program.
Affected programs include “Great Performances,” “American Masters,” “Independent Lens” and “Art in the Twenty-First Century.”
From the Times report:
“Susan Sollins, executive director of Art21 [producer of “Art in the Twenty-First Century”], said her organization would ‘have to scramble as a result’ of the cuts, noting that other financial backers often take their cues from the NEA in deciding what to support. But she said: ‘I don’t think it’s a fault on the NEA side. I think it’s a fault on the congressional side. The NEA should be funded more amply so it could serve more people.’ “
COMMENTS
The proposed NEA cuts to PBS are unfortunate indeed. Locally, we are already about to feel the effects, as Georgia Public Broadcasting will not be airing the new season of Art21’s Art in the Twenty-First Century, premiering this month nation-wide. We at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center are proud to be showing an episode, Change, from the new season on Thu, Apr 19, 6:30pm, with free admission to all.
Recently, Eve Moros Ortega, Series Producer and Managing Director of Art21, notified us of GPB’s decision to not air Art21, and urged us to write to Bob Olive, Chief Operating Officer of Georgia Public Broadcasting, to ask that they reconsider their decision. We believe this series is an invaluable resource and one of the only of its kind to delve into contemporary art and artists. Art21 has won two Peabody awards, confirming the quality and value of their documentaries about the artists of our time. Art in the Twenty-First Century has had carriage of over 96% for its past seasons on its PBS affiliates.
I recently heard back from Mr. Olive, who said:
“In general in the past when GPB has broadcast Art in the Twenty-First Century, viewing levels have been very low, even by GPB’s already low public broadcasting standards. While Georgia audiences respond positively to the very popular performing arts, i.e. The Three Tenors, Andrea Bocelli, Celtic Woman, Les Miserables in Concert, their reaction to other arts programming has been disappointing at best. You may remember GPB’s State of the Arts, which we produced for several years but eventually abandoned largely because of the resources necessary to create a quality program which was watched by so few. As someone who loves and supports the arts, I understand your frustration. But as an organization charged with serving the public as best we can with the resources we have (both dollars and on-air time) we try to choose programming carefully that we know will be watched, even by our small audience standards. Unfortunately based on past experience Art in the Twenty-First Century is unlikely to reach those standards.”
His response is disappointing to say the least and to make this decision in the face of budget cuts that will decimate the programming even further is, I feel, a poor strategy. I believe our community thinks a variety of the arts are important to them and I don’t believe the public is being served when GPB drops a popular and award-winning series in favor of limited schedule of programming that they think their viewership wants.
I would urge your readers to let GPB and lawmakers know that the arts and the NEA’s support of public broadcasting are important to them and that they count on it for quality programming of all kinds.