Artistic Progress: Arts Advocacy Day 2017

Today is the beginning of Arts Advocacy Day 2017. (For reasons unclear but welcome, it lasts for two days).

I salute all of you taking the time to advocate for the arts today, whether through letters, calls, or trips to Washington, D.C. It makes a difference.

What is the crux of arts advocacy? That arts deserve public institutional support. Why?

Simple.

A great country needs great art.

Art magnifies our souls. Art should be at the core of a culture, whether secular or religious, urban or rural, public or private.

You may look to technological progress as a sign of a society’s greatness; I look to artistic progress.

A great country needs great art.