Federal Arts funding for public art is being subverted unscrupulously. The sugar-coated rhetoric that advocates and excuses the practice is the well-known, disingenuous Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) rhetoric.
The scam is shamelessly performed in broad daylight. It involves a number of tightly coupled techniques that ensure that local funding for the arts is used as a proxy form of reparations toward local arts organizations that no longer represent artists but instead act as cash cows for exclusively self-serving political action groups. Naturally, the labels these organizations use claim to be arts organizations but the administrations of these organizations has been largely co-opted by individuals whose agendas don't honor the intent of public funding for the arts.
The National Endowment for the Arts is blatantly in need of an auditing of their funding and organizational integrity. The lack of accountability as to how Arts money is spent and how its regional branches operate is negligent if not criminal. Following the fraudulent practices requires navigating a maze of clever and deceptive techniques that both distort the scam and obfuscate the network of deception involved.
What is "Public Art"?
You may think you know what "public art" means but its definition is the first casualty in the misuse of federal and local funds.
Most Americans will recognize that citizens move freely and often and that neighborhoods, towns, and cities routinely evolve with changing times. And therefore, one requirement of government funded public artwork must be that whatever the artwork is must reflect either the country or a common, shared trajectory that can stand the test of time and cultural change.
Today, that common sense expectation is no longer the case. Arts organizations nationwide are more likely to solicit public arts projects that immediately gratify the politics and cultural footprint of the current (and often temporal) cohort of residents who disproportionately influence, if not control, the arts organization in question.
In fact, the NEA spends federal arts funding on highly biased, advocacy, consulting firms who provide plausible deniability, gamed statistical polls and materials, and academically white-washed cover for the obviously unConstitutional funding behaviors.
This redefinition of public art is often sold as a re-imagining of public art funding as if its a rainbow of new and wonderful fairy dust the public can expect coming its way.
Contrary to that salesmanship, this redefinition moves the goal posts for artists who hope to participate and share in the public arts spaces. First, it codifies the bigotry required for the creation of "community" art. In other words if the arts organization that dispenses funding for an arts project insists on a specific identity politic artist profile to complete it, then not just anyone can apply. Equal opportunity be damned. And quality and long term viability of the piece are compromised at best and reinforce racial and social stereotypes regardless.
In New England, the New England Foundation for the Arts buries all visual arts grants under a public art subterfuge.
Wait. There's More
And public art's definition isn't the only thing under attack. Traditionally, an artist could apply for a public art commission by submitting a response to a "Request for Proposal" (RFP) that would describe and detail the submission the artist was proposing.
That was before a a very sneaky and insidious change is being recommended to the application process. The recommendation is that the RFP be replaced with something called a "Request for Qualification" (RFQ). In other words, the applicants will be selected or eliminated based on WHO the artist is rather than the quality of their proposal. And here, "who" is the equivalent of passing a bigoted litmus test of identity qualifications being judged by out-of-control arts administrators who think social engineering is a legitimate function of their responsibility.
This, just one more way artists are stabbed in the back.
Time for Accountability
The NEA has been off the chain for many years now. Arts funding is either being diverted to elite college student activity slush funds or being used to pay off local social justice advocates who bum rush arts organizations as easy, territorial marks. In the meantime, nationally, artists of all kinds are not being funded and believe its their fault alone.
When will the NEA and its regional proxies be held accountable?