The body of American arts greatly contributes to the nation-building process. With the aid of the Arts Policy, integrating art into national issues and communal spaces can propel reform, tolerance, and creative output of the public. Art promotes inclusiveness which is central to unified national thinking towards development and empowerment.
In the 1960s, the Arts Policy was developed and formulated by UNESCO, and it later came to be known as Cultural Policy in the 2010s. By this policy, the government funds artists and art institutions directly and indirectly by buying art for government offices, organizing art festivals, and making art charities and donation drives tax-deductible.
How can the integration of arts into national issues help the public?
As the Americans for the Arts society reports, artists are among the most socially aware individuals of the community who are already researching and conceptualizing solutions to many of the social struggles that the nation faces at large.
Spreading public awareness:
Various professional fields and administrative institutions raise certain topics of national concern regarding education, health, social, and economic policies. They can easily consult the artist community to brainstorm ideas for raising public awareness since artists try to incorporate these issues (as many as possible) in their arts programs. This collective effort tends to push for faster and better solutions by combining creativity, organizational skills, and passion. The initiation of change lies in this rigorous creative research process.
Instilling a creative spirit:
Integrating art in every community sphere includes assimilating art in public workspaces and educational institutions where the main crux of social thinking resides. Students and office workers are an essential part of a developed, modern nation – most of the critical thinking and intellectual exchanges take place here. Art can enhance creative thinking, productivity, and passion in these spaces and nurture the spirit for more creative output. By promoting and purchasing art for government offices, private sectors, schools, and universities, these institutions become more enriched and inspiring spaces.
How can the Arts Policy empower the indigenous artist communities?
Strategic investment and planning involved in collaborating with the artist community for national issues can also help to empower the backward and indigenous artists. Their employment and involvement in these projects can bring their work to the limelight, giving them the often deprived exposure. The elitist circles of artists often overshadow them because they lack the means of proper promotion and support. The National Endowment for the Arts has been especially active in bringing forward the works of the indigenous artists by promoting their folk, traditional, and multidisciplinary arts. As a mark of the partnership between the state and the US federal government, the NEA gives 40% of its earnings from art programs to state arts agencies.
These opportunities, coupled with various grants, help to build and strengthen the infrastructure of the nation’s artist community. The increasing accessibility of art with such exposure ensures better outreach to the public. Art has indeed gone beyond the elite urban scene and made its way into the rural and inner-city communities in the past few decades.
Conclusion:
The arts have always thrived on the government’s patronage, business foundations, influential individuals, and the general population. Integrating arts into national issues helps the concerned institutions, individuals, and government authorities reach out to a greater population and initiate change faster. It benefits all the artist communities with its multidisciplinary collective approach.