Our speaker last Friday, William “Bro” Adams, recently finished his terms as the tenth chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and spoke about his 4 years at the helm of this important and long-standing agency which, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, annually oversaw $300M in grant monies. Begun in September of 1965 by President Johnson, the NEH works with over 7000 agencies, museums, colleges, media outlets and even filmmakers to advance cultural knowledge and appreciation. Within the 50+ years of its existence, NEH has provided over 5.3 billion dollars of support in an effort to enrich our society and create a bridge between the government and the arts. In some cases, as we have seen in Maine, introducing a cultural economy can help ease the pain of losing an industrial economy, with Waterville as a clear example of how the arts can help transform a city and region after the loss of industry has left a city searching for an identity.
When President Trump’s budget came out recently, many were stunned to find the previous level of funding for the NEH and the NEA, which had stood at a modest $150M apiece, suddenly slashed to zero. Congressional pressure, including firm support from three of Maine’s four member delegation, should allow for ongoing funding in 2018, but the waves were felt throughout the nation as the arts seemed to take a back burner. Mr. Adams suggests that no democracy can survive without an acquaintance with our history, our theories in democracy, and in an understanding of the cultural complexities of our nation and our world. While The United States is certainly at a crossroads, with a swift increase in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) funding and this sudden shot across the bow of our cultural heritage, there is still hope and optimism that the arts and the humanities can survive and even flourish despite the seemingly myopic vision of the current administration. Only time will tell, but it was certainly fascinating to gain the perspective of Mr. Adams, who has devoted his career to higher education and a higher understanding of the arts and culture of our nation.
(Photo L-R: President Don Zillman, Abdullahi Ali, Bro Adams and Rusty Atwood.)