Federal Cultural Agency Heads Look to the Future at New Series on Culture and Policy

Washington, DC - The chairs of the National Endowment for the Arts, Bill Ivey and National Endowment for the Humanities, Bill Ferris, and the Director of the Institute for Museum and Library Services, Diane Frankel, will discuss how their agencies will address twenty-first century challenges at a public forum sponsored by the Center for Arts and Culture on March 18, 1999 at 3:30 PM at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW in Washington DC. Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Director of the White House Millennium Council will serve as moderator as the three federal leaders discuss future directions for their agencies. This free, public event is the inaugural 1999 program in the Center’s Calling the Question series examining critical issues in the cultural sector.

Recent controversies over federal funding in the arts and humanities have obscured broader issues facing the cultural sector in the next century. Beyond Grants: Federal Cultural Leadership will give these agency heads an opportunity to discuss how their organizations will play a role in the nation's cultural policy beyond the grants that they give.

Calling the Question, a series of public programs addressing policy issues in the cultural sector, provides forums for a wide range of views. The Center is offering three programs this spring: Beyond Grants: Federal Cultural Leadership, held March 18, 1999; The Creative Mind: Artists and Scholars as Public Citizens, will take place Tuesday, April 6, 1999; and New Trends in Cultural Philanthropy, will be held Monday, May 3, 1999.

The Center for Arts and Culture is an independent, non-partisan, national institution based in Washington, D.C. that explores new policy directions in American artistic and cultural life. Through research, convening and communication, it promotes intelligent and informed debate on those dimensions of American life where culture and policy meet. “The Calling the Question series is an important first step for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners in the cultural field to come together and address the significant challenges we face in the years ahead,” said Center for Arts and Culture Executive Director Gigi Bradford.

The cultural sector will be at the center of a global transformation in the 21st century. This sector embraces the arts and humanities and the support they receive from government and the private sector. It includes both commercial and non-profit arts industries and the laws that govern them. It encompasses the contribution of artists and scholars to democratic society. In upcoming Calling the Question programs the Center will continue examine the changing face of this dynamic field.

The Calling the Question series is made possible with support from the Nathan Cummings Foundation and is presented in collaboration with the National Building Museum.