Arts Organizations Need to Teach Their Audiences Self-Defense

Government Arts Funding Is Vital, and Could Be Zeroed Out. The Threat Should Be Part of the Show.

The engagement that arts institutions need most right now is about their own survival.

I’m glad to see that the many worthy examples of how arts organizations engage the public are receiving attention. But at this very difficult moment, we need to pay even more attention to a straightforward assault on the arts at the federal level, which is in turn an attack on the arts in our cities and neighborhoods.

The Trump Administration has proposed to eliminate funding—these are not cuts, this is zero funding—for the National Endowment for the Arts, …