Tracing Public Funding for the Arts

From the 20th Century to Now

By Brendan Salyards | Economic Initiatives Manager

Last year, the Cultural Alliance of York County received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) to support its Make Music Day celebration in 2024 and 2025. The event is held annually on June 21st. This was made possible from the Country’s long tradition of funding public arts and cultural programming for the benefit of the American people.

“Arts and culture are a vital aspect of our community,” shared Rita Whitney, Director of Communications with the Cultural Alliance of York County. “This funding from the National Endowment for the Arts meant that we could not only build out a robust event that hired professional musicians to share their talent with our attendees but that we could create an accessible experience across our county, regardless of age, class, physical location or demographic.”

Before the 20th century, the main mechanism for funding public art projects was the construction of public buildings, memorials, and other grand edifices that grace our communities across the country. As part of the New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress created the Works Progress Administration (WPA), an agency devoted to providing work to millions of men and women who were unemployed. From 1935 to the program’s termination in 1943, the WPA funded projects to provide work to artists of all varieties. The program is widely recognized as having enhanced the vibrancy of the American artistic community and fostered the careers of many Americans who would go on to become prominent artists.

Nearly 20 years later, President John F. Kennedy made great efforts to raise the prominence of the Arts in society and to establish Washington D.C. as a cultural center. These efforts are memorialized in the naming of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which, while authorized by Congress in the Eisenhower administration, was championed by the President and Ms. Kennedy. President Lyndon Baines Johnson carried forward the mantle of championing the arts and Congress passed the National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities Act in 1965, establishing the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities, respectively.

Today, the NEA supports artistic endeavors of all kinds, including major public art installations, the performing arts, musicians, museums, creative writing, and research regarding the impact of the industry. In 1976, the NEA began its partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to showcase performances of concerts, ballets, and operas with its Live From Lincoln Center program. In the 60 years since the NEA was established, over $5.5 billion has been invested to support arts and cultural programming in every corner of the United States. In recent years (FY 2019-FY 2023), grantees in Pennsylvania have received nearly $24 million to support programs such as Blue Star Museums, which provides free admission for active-duty military personnel and their families.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ARTS & CULTURE SECTOR:

Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that the Arts and Cultural industry in the United States represented a $1.1 Trillion Industry in 2022, accounting for roughly 4.3% of the US Economy. In Fiscal Year 2022, the Federal Government appropriated $180 million for the National Endowment of the Arts, representing just .003 percent of the total Federal Budget and approximately 0.02% of the nondefense discretionary spending for FY 2022.

A 2023 study conducted by YCEA in partnership with the Cultural Alliance of York County found that less than 20% of arts and cultural organizations received federal funding of any kind (visit YorkCountyEAP.org to view the full report). Updated data on the economic impact of the Arts and Culture sector will be released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in March 2025.