United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recently visited Bethel Woods calling on the Senate to reject President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to zero out funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.
I applaud Senator Gillibrand in taking this move during her visit to Sullivan County.
Many people do not realize or want to understand the benefits a strongly funded endowment for the arts and humanities bring.
Gillibrand said, “The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities allow families and community organizations to help give our children the chance to experience and learn about art, music, dance, language, and literature.”
“If these programs are taken away, it would particularly hurt rural communities and small towns like those in Sullivan County and throughout the Hudson Valley. The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities give local museums in small towns more resources to teach students on field trips, and they fund educational programming on PBS beloved by children and their families, they give veterans a new lens to understand their experiences and reintegrate into their communities.”
These programs can prevent someone from leading a life of addiction, and help those who want to turn their addictive lifestyles around.
The arts give our senior citizen population a quality of life.
Gillibrand said, “We should never allow these programs to be cut, and I will continue to do everything in my power to stand up for communities that don’t have a lot of resources and rely on these programs.”
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther said, “I want to thank Senator Gillibrand for her tireless efforts to restore federal funding. Art and culture are part of what makes our area such a great place to live. We need to ensure that organizations have the resources they need to continue their great work for generations to come.”
Elaine Giguere, Executive Director, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance said “Nearly every community in the country benefits from these agencies either directly or indirectly. Arts and humanities funding supports economic drivers such as livability and tourism; supports art making, and elevates educational and life-long learning experiences.”
“The reason a small, rural arts company like NACL has been able to survive as long as we have, is in no small part, due to the funding we receive from both state and federal agencies—namely New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, said Tannis Kowalchuk, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, NACL Theatre.
NACL was a recipient of a prestigious NEA OUR TOWN award that funded “The Weather Project,” a two-year community arts and climate science project involving hundreds of residents, artists, cross-sector organizations, and a NASA scientist.
NACL Theatre produced a massive 75-person play, an art show, and climate change symposium serving over 1000 people in Highland Lake.
“This educational, artistic and participatory project offered a once in a life artistic experience for so many. This kind of creative place making work that NACL practices would not have evolved without the NEA,” Kowalchuk noted.
The NEA and NEH have an annual budget of $148 million each. President Trump’s recently released budget proposes to zero out funding for both of these institutions.
In 2016, New York institutions were awarded 538 grants from the NEA, totaling more than $17 million. New York received 111 grants from the NEH the same year, totaling more than $12.6 million.
Bill Liblick has made a name for himself on National TV Talk Shows where he spouted his outspoken views from the front row. Now he offers you his opinion every week in the “MOUTH THAT ROARS” Column in THE SULLIVAN COUNTY POST.