A Teachable Moment

So there we were, two Americans summoned to 11 Downing Street to advise the movers and shakers of British culture on the lessons to be learned from FDR's New Deal, and particularly from Federal One, the WPA Arts Program that between 1935 and 1943 allowed thousands of painters, writers, actors, dancers, sculptors, musicians and designers to define themselves as working artists rather than destitute citizens on the dole. Alan Brinkley, author of Voices of Protest and Liberalism and Its Discontents and currently the provost of Columbia University, gave an eloquent resume of the New Deal's ambitions and limitations. Then your correspondent followed up with a few points aimed at translating the language of 1930s America into contemporary Britain. But far more striking than anything either of us said was the sheer cultural leverage of the assembled audience, who included the chief executives of the BBC, the Royal Opera House, the British Council, the Arts Council, the Southhbank Centre, the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as the serving ministers of Culture and Work and Pensions, MPs from both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, not to mention Alastair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, with his wife Maggie, acted as our hosts.

That these people, each of whom controls a budget as large or larger than the $50 million portion of President Obama's stimulus package for the US National Endowment for the Arts that proved so contentious, were prepared to spend a big chunk of time listening to a history lesson--and an American history lesson at that--was evidence of just how seriously Britain takes its culture industries. (Anyone tempted to denigrate culture's contribution to Britain's balance of payments would have quickly been set straight by Tessa Ross, who as head of Channel 4's film division greenlighted Slumdog Millionaire.) But this morning's gathering was also testimony to the power of an idea. We had been invited to launch The New Deal of the Mind,, the brainchild of journalist Martin Bright, who in an article in the New Statesman argued that by putting all of their emphasis on bailing out banks or big, long-term infrastructure projects the British government was missing out on one of the few undisputed successes of the New Deal, the Federal Arts Programs. "If ministers have decided to go down the route of work creation backed by borrowing," urged Bright, "they should at least do it with some imagination and flair."

Similar ideas have been floated in the US--most recently by Charles Peters and Tim Noah. But what was remarkable about Bright's modest proposal was not so much the content as the response--this lone lefty journalist's trial balloon had somehow commandeered not just a respectful hearing (and, courtesy of the web and Bright's energy, a wide audience) but office space, the ears of the powerful, and thanks to Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the promise of real money. All within just over a month.

What does the WPA Arts Project have to do with equality and human rights? Well, for one thing, 40 percent of the workers on the WPA Writers' Project were women. And that was back when Betty Friedan was still writing editorials for the Smith College newspaper. Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Katherine Dunham and Arna Bontemps were all alumni of the arts projects. And in an era when virtually the whole of US government institutions, from the Armed Forces to the blood banks, were segregated by race, the WPA arts projects were unique in the degree both of genuine integration and the opportunities they offered for African American professionals. It was the WPA that taught a generation of Americans that culture was not something that you go out and buy, or passively consume, but something that was made by and belonged to people like themselves. It would be ironic if this lesson, which still seems capable of stirring such avid interest in Britain, remains neglected in the country that gave it birth.

Comments (15)

1. DDG: It was the WPA that taught a generation of Americans that culture was not something that you go out and buy, or passively consume, but something that was made by and belonged to people like themselves.

   WPA was not spelled out but presumed to mean Works Program Admin. or such sort concocted by FDR.

   I can't say what it's like in London/England, but I surely don't call "painters, writers, actors, dancers, sculptors, musicians and designers" who "define themselves as working artists" are remotely similar to the average people.

   I go to theaters for live performances regularly and while I know most of them don't make a lot of money, I know for sure, from chitchatting with a few, performers and various support staff, most of them are pursuing something they love to do.....assuredly NOT the case for most working stiffs who for the most part, fall in the `tolerate' or at best, find their work barely `likable'.

   Artsy folks are just the girley man version of our spoiled professional athletes! Get paid to do what they like to do and best at......attention-crazies!

   Posted by Happy at 03/24/2009 @ 5:22pm

2. Sounds more like a breeding place for more Hollywood empty-headed unsocial activism paid for by the taxpayers $50,000,000.! We've enough of that tripe already, but if it makes some happy enjoy.

   Posted by comancheamerican at 03/24/2009 @ 6:00pm

3. Happy...

   So if a writer, musician, or painter "Gets paid to do what they like to do and best at" - this is a bad idea, why exactly?

   Because their wages would be siphoned away from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and the like?

   These banks, the same people who spent 30 years destroying equitable wealth, are NOT exactly what I'd consider "similar to the average people".

   If we could throw a switch that redirects our tax dollars away from the offshore accounts and tax havens of oligarchs, stockmarket gamblers and overprivileged trust-funders, AND steer it directly into the pockets (and stomachs) of creative musicians, artists, actors, and designers - Why WOULDN'T you?

   You're calling artists who may have a rare chance to make a return on their talents "attention crazies"?

   I'd certainly call you attention crazy.

   You post a cock-eyed, crotchety, paleoconservative reply to nearly every article posted on this site. I've read a great many of the flame wars you've engaged in... You're not exactly a wallflower yourself.

   You don't contribute anything here- other than circular logic, crazy libel, and a profoundly bizarre (and disturbingly dogmatic) insistence that the Left worships Obama as some sort of infallible diety - wtf??

   I gather from your cranky writing voice that you probably lived through the FDR administration, and I know that these times may seem strange and scary to you. Settle down. Breathe deep. The Red Menace is no more.

   Oh, and a friendly FYI: I understand your mental faculties are slowing down these days, but calling a black man "Magic"... in 2009... as a derogatory term? Err... I know the 80's were a lot of fun for Reaganites, but whatchoo talkin' about, HAPPY? This habit just makes you look as though your Alzheimer's is giving you more bad days than good.

   Posted by obscurity_knocks at 03/24/2009 @ 6:43pm

4. Comanche,

   It makes me happy. I will enjoy. Thoroughly.

   BTW, I like your freewheelin' attitude... You're a real paragon of patriotism, y'know?

   That you can troll on a left-leaning blog day in and day out, offering up little except trite admonitions about the inevitable ruin that will come from lying in the bed that we libs have made for ourselves, speaks much louder than your actual comments do.

   Without your valuable input, why, all of the unemployable artistic godless abortion-loving homo socialists around here might think our ideas were sound! And then what would you do?!

   We all appreciate your encouragement. Your posts let us all see plainly that you're a true modern American, in the proud tradition of all the wonderful lassez-faire free-market success stories we're seeing from your fellow patriots on the right.

   And Comanche, please - you've nearly done something unforgivable... never insult Hollywood!! We're just too fragile to handle it... OH NOEZ!

   Posted by obscurity_knocks at 03/24/2009 @ 7:06pm

5. Happy...

   So if a writer, musician, or painter "Gets paid to do what they like to do and best at" - this is a bad idea, why exactly?

   ....You don't contribute anything here-...

   ....your Alzheimer's is giving you more bad days than good.

   Posted by obscurity_knocks at 03/24/2009 @ 6:43pm

   What you know, look at what the cat brought in!

   For all your feigned air of typical lib snootiness, you completely miss the whole point of my "paleoconservative reply" to D.D. Guttenplan. To spell it out for YOU, it was to shatter his fantasy that working artists are really just like any generation of Americans themselves.

   I "don't contribute anything here"? Well, what have you? I donated $200 to The Nation after the Election, and you? Still have Ms. KvH's emailed thanks in my email folder.

   Beyond money, I see you've read my comments for some time......admitted quite openly as in "I've read a great many of the flame wars you've engaged in." Here I am, scratching my balls and having a good laugh, at you....and you don't get it!

   My "Alzheimer" is curable.......while Magic is the art of illusion...and the secrets are flaming out every single day. Deep stuff, huh?

   Posted by Happy at 03/24/2009 @ 8:54pm

6. Posted by obscurity_knocks at 03/24/2009 @ 7:06pm | ignore this person | warn this person

   Just when you think there could NOT be another paragon of arrogant leftist elitist extremism left out there....up pops Obsenity knocking at the very gates of insensibility! Welcome fiend!

   Posted by comancheamerican at 03/24/2009 @ 10:24pm

7. $50M for the NATIONAL arts program? whats a joke.

   $50 is 1/3 of of a Hollywood film's above & below line costs plus marketing costs these days. 1/3. The result? A single major studio film of dubious cultural value, invested in by, guess who, our big banker boyz.

   Posted by sloper at 03/25/2009 @ 01:21am

8. Because their wages would be siphoned away from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and the like?

   Posted by obscurity_knocks

   No because their wages are siphoned away from the American people. Let the American consumer decide the quality of a writer musician or painter.

   Posted by abell12ct at 03/25/2009 @ 08:08am

9. Without your valuable input, why, all of the unemployable artistic godless abortion-loving homo socialists around here might think our ideas were sound! And then what would you do?!

   We all appreciate your encouragement. Your posts let us all see plainly that you're a true modern American, in the proud tradition of all the wonderful lassez-faire free-market success stories we're seeing from your fellow patriots on the right.

   Posted by obscurity_knocks at 03/24/2009 @ 7:06pm

   Now that's a funny post. OK actually thinks that his type (as he/she describes) actually contributes something of value to America

   Posted by antisocialist at 03/25/2009 @ 09:16am

10. Posted by antisocialist at 03/25/2009 @ 09:16am

    Well, we KNOW you do, Larry.

    You "help people"....

    by selling them at a profit a service that the Government mandates those people HAVE to purchase!

    Posted by Mask at 03/25/2009 @ 10:16am

11. "...culture was not something that you go out and buy, or passively consume, but something that was made by and belonged to people like themselves."

    That's a good thought.

    "Artsy folks are just the girley man version of our spoiled professional athletes! Get paid to do what they like to do and best at......attention-crazies!"

    I googled a few NEA Medal of arts recipients;

    Olivia de Havilland Stan Lee Jesús Moroles Wynton Marsalis Dolly Parton Louis Auchincloss

    Posted by Misheley at 03/25/2009 @ 11:01am

12. Posted by Happy at 03/24/2009 @ 8:54pm

    I am technically one of those girly-men non-atheletes you speak of. I work in film. I pursued what I love. I can tell you this. I work more hours than most of those hard-working stiffs you speak of. I work more hours in a strutctured workspace, meaning I show up at 9 work anywhere from 10-16 hours a day and then go home. Those are the good days. I have stayed at some places for 20 hours. Insult those of us who work in art all you want. All it shows it ignorance. Same goes for you LVL. If you think artists don't contribute to America then you must not listen to music or enjoy paintings. All those hymnals at church all BS because they are written by some slacker musician I guess.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 03/25/2009 @ 2:28pm

13. Anyone who can argue art doesn't contribute to society proves that they have a complete and utter disdain for history. So much of what we have from older cultures IS their art. Art has been here since man could etch things into stone. Art has been an intricate part of human society allowing people to pass down stories and culture from one person to another. Much of our culture is contained in our arts. Modern artist are simply modern forms of the old story tellers.

    Anyone who can make the statement that, artists do not contribute to a society proves a complete and utter lack of a brain and proves themselves and uncultured swine because that person must not read, look at architecture, look at auto design, look at advertisements or listen to ANY form of music.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 03/25/2009 @ 2:34pm

14. I pursued what I love. I can tell you this....Insult those of us who work in art all you want....

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 03/25/2009 @ 2:28pm

    You have the same problem of reading comprehension, do I need to repeat the main, and only point of my paleoconservative reply? Did you note that I actually see live shows--probably 6~10 per year at Houston's Alley Theater & Hobby Center for the Performing Arts?

    I have nothing against you artsy folks other than you're almost monolithically Libs/Dems. Don't be so knee-jerk shallow and take everything as an insult.....you should have enough `expereince' to recognize a HAPPY insult......no punches pulled.....remember, playing PC is not in my DNA!

    Posted by Happy at 03/25/2009 @ 3:02pm

15. Posted by Happy at 03/25/2009 @ 3:02pm

    Sorry if I misread your comment. It isn't a problem of reading comprehension it's more a problem of sarcasm and inflection not translating on screen.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 03/25/2009 @ 4:18pm