Former NEA chief Ivey: Americans' cultural rights are threatened
Bill Ivey says Americans need a Cultural Bill of Rights to protect their ability to have access to a cultural heritage and opportunities for artistic expression.
The former National Endowment for the Arts chairman told an Indiana University Bloomington audience that corporate power and a hands-off approach by government have combined to threaten the notion that a vibrant, expressive artistic and cultural life is a public good.
"The situation is out of balance," he said. "And the balance is tilted toward the marketplace and away from the public interest."
Ivey, director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, spoke at an IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs seminar on Sept. 19, elaborating on the themes of his recent book, Arts, Inc.: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights. He also gave a keynote speech the next day at the IU Arts Administration Alumni Symposium.
Ivey was chairman of the NEA from 1998 to 2001 and before that headed the Country Music Foundation in Nashville. He has a master's degree in folklore from Indiana University and received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from IU in 2000.
Addressing nearly 100 students and faculty in a crowded SPEA classroom, Ivey argued that the U.S. needs a government agency -- a department of cultural affairs, or at least a council of cultural advisers -- to ensure the public interest is considered when laws and policies on arts and culture are enacted.
He didn't always feel that way. When he was at the NEA, Ivey said, he was often asked whether the U.S. should have a cultural affairs department, similar to those in some European countries. He always said no. "I have come to feel that I was just wrong," he said.
What changed? In nearly eight years out of government, Ivey said, he has seen a consolidation of corporate control of the use of still images, sound recordings and films that are at the heart of American culture, combined with "a widespread walk-away" from government limits on corporate power.
A series of piecemeal legal and regulatory decisions have strengthened copyright and licensing protections to the extent that valuable artistic and cultural treasures are locked away from the public.
As an example of what has been lost, Ivey showed a slide of the iconic photograph of John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his slain father's passing coffin. The photo, taken by United Press International photographer Stan Stearns, became part of the UPI archives and eventually came to be owned and controlled by Corbis, a company started by Bill Gates to license the rights to digital images of great art.
"This is part of our heritage," Ivey said of the photo. "It's owned and controlled by a corporation."
Ivey said a Cultural Bill of Rights could enshrine such concepts as a right to America's cultural heritage, a right of artists to express their vision, a right to an "artistic life" for all Americans, a right to have worldwide dissemination of cultural products that truly express American values and ideals, a right of access to a variety of high-quality art and a right to healthy arts organizations.
That kind of framework, he said, could at least prompt more public discussion when decisions are made that have an impact on the access to and ownership of America's cultural and artistic heritage.
"We have a very vibrant culture," he said, "that is not highly valued by our policy leaders."
