Stimulating the Arts? That's a Bailout We All Can Support

When you think "Stimulus Package," you usually think road resurfacing and wind turbine construction. At least after you’ve finished making crude jokes. Am I right?

The whole idea behind Obama’s plan to jump-start our economy is to put people to work on "shovel-ready" projects. And while art projects have the ability to put people to work right away (or as soon as the muse strikes, anyway), I haven't met too many artists in my day whose tool of choice is a shovel. Or even a spade. The closest they get is a palette knife.

So what is the National Endowment for the Arts doing distributing stimulus funds? That's $29.8 million in stimulus funds, to be exact. Across all the United States, and even some territories, 633 grant-winning arts organizations are getting their shovels — er, I mean, their paintbrushes and oboes and ballet slippers — ready.

Grants for $50,000 are going to such diverse institutions as Academy of American Poets, American Boychoir School, New Orleans Ballet Association, Fund for Folk Culture and Pilchuck Glass School. Others like the International Accordion Festival, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre, Inc. and a youth arts program called Bad Dog Rediscovers America are taking home $25,000 apiece.

While it's no WPA Federal Art Project, this NEA stimulus funding will surely make a big difference to a lot of artists. And hopefully to our economy, too.