[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 8 (Thursday, January 16, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1064-S1065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE PERFORMING ARTS IN AMERICA

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I would like to bring a recent article in 
the Washington Post to the attention of our colleagues. Michael Kaiser, 
who is the President of the Kennedy Center, has written a thoughtful 
and articulate article on the serious challenges facing the performing 
arts in America.
  Mr. Kaiser is an impressive leader for the Kennedy Center. In the 2 
years he has been its President, the Center has staged a broad range of 
programs in dance, music and drama and has significantly expanded its 
efforts to reach out through the arts to improve the lives of all 
Americans.
  I commend all that Mr. Kaiser is doing so effectively, and I ask 
unanimous consent that his recent article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

[[Page S1065]]

                [From the Washington Post, Dec. 9, 2002]

                    How To Save the Performing Arts

                         (By Michael M. Kaiser)

       The world of the performing arts is sick and needs 
     attention. Several underlying problems currently affecting 
     the ecology of the arts were in evidence long before the 
     stock market collapse and Sept. 11, 2001. They need to be 
     addressed, not simply accepted as an unsolvable result of the 
     environment in which we live.
       The arts world needs leadership. It needs concerted action. 
     And it needs them fast. There are five key issues that must 
     be addressed if we are to solve the problems arts 
     organizations face today.
       1. Such organizations must once again be willing to develop 
     and implement large-scale, important projects that are risky 
     and emerging. The arts world used to produce numerous big, 
     daring projects each year; the construction of major arts, 
     facilities from Lincoln Center to the Kennedy Center, the 
     production of large-scale dramatic works, such as ``Nicholas 
     Nickleby,'' the mounting of new Ring Cycles, even by small 
     opera companies. It wasn't so long ago that Alvin Ailey or 
     George Balanchine would create four or five or even six new 
     works in a season. Now a choreographer is lucky to be able to 
     produce one major work a year.
       We have been scared into thinking small. And small thinking 
     begets smaller revenue that begets even smaller institutions 
     and reduced public excitement and involvement. No wonder so 
     many arts organizations are announcing record deficits.
       The Sondheim Celebration we mounted this summer at the 
     Kennedy Center is one example of the kind of project I am 
     hoping to see duplicated by others. We took a large but 
     measured risk, and it paid off handsomely. The level of press 
     coverage was phenomenal. The way the Kennedy Center is 
     perceived has changed dramatically. We will never be the same 
     institution again. We must all be thinking large and 
     creatively at this time. That is what the arts are about.
       2. If arts organizations, large and small, are going to 
     take risks on meaningful projects and maximize their impact, 
     they need entrepreneurial management better suited to the 
     current climate in which they operate. Hundreds of millions 
     of dollars are spent throughout the world each year training 
     young performers, but only a small fraction of that amount is 
     devoted to training the people who will employ and market 
     these performers. While several universities mount arts 
     management programs, they are not sufficient to fill all our 
     needs. There is no shortage of great artists in this world, 
     but there is a shortage of trained, skilled managers.
       We are operating in a highly challenging environment, and 
     only the most sophisticated managers will be able to acquire 
     the support needed to help their organizations thrive. I hope 
     serious arts funders will begin to pay far more attention to 
     this need; otherwise, we will see a serious decline in arts 
     institutions throughout the world.
       3. As we train arts managers, we must actively focus on the 
     needs of all kinds of arts organizations.
       The arts world is moving close to becoming a virtual cartel 
     of a few large mainstream organizations that survive and 
     thrive. This would be catastrophic. A healthy arts ecology 
     demands that we have large and small organizations, 
     mainstream and edgy, and of all ethnic backgrounds. The 
     theater world, for example, has lost many of its minority 
     organizations in the past few years. Those that remain are 
     terribly small compared with their white counterparts.
       We who run large arts organizations have become so scared 
     about keeping our organizations solvent that we have 
     forgotten we will have a healthy arts environment only if we 
     support the smaller and diverse organizations that create 
     great works, great artists and new audiences. The tradition 
     that created the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet 
     Hispanico and the now-defunct Crossroads Theater is close to 
     evaporating.
       4. The need for diversity in performers and performing 
     institutions is equally strong with respect to audiences. 
     Alvin Ailey said that ``dance is for everyone.'' I know he 
     meant that ``art is for everyone.'' We are heading toward a 
     world where only white, upper-middle-class people come to the 
     theater, because only white, upper-middle-class children are 
     being exposed to the theater. Public school arts education is 
     virtually dead, not just in the United States but in most 
     countries.
       The Kennedy Center, like most arts organizations, has 
     jumped into the breach. We spend $15 million each year on 
     arts education, working actively with 5 million children 
     around the United States. But our efforts are not coordinated 
     with those of other arts organizations, and the arts exposure 
     enjoyed by virtually every child is episodic. For some 
     children in some schools, the exposure is tremendous; other 
     children may get no arts programming for years. We owe every 
     child in this nation a chance to experience the joy of self-
     expression, the power of discipline and the self-fulfillment 
     of achievement that come from the performing arts.
       5. Finally, we must address the need to record the 
     performances of merit that are mounted each day of the year.
       The collapse of the recording industry, the lack of 
     resources available to public broadcasting to record 
     performances and the prohibitive costs of producing 
     recordings and videos mean that it is easier to obtain a 
     recording of Enrico Caruso than of most great opera singers 
     today. We need the support of PBS, the unions and all artists 
     to ensure that an entire generation of performances is not 
     lost.
       This is critical if we are to create the history of 
     performance and creativity that inspires future generations 
     and that allows for performances enjoyed by a few to be 
     available to many. The Kennedy Center broadcasts on the 
     Internet the daily free concerts we give on our Millennium 
     Stage. But so many more performances in our halls and in 
     theaters around the world go unrecorded.
       If we can take all these necessary steps, we will create an 
     arts ecology that can withstand the horrors of terrorism, 
     economic decline and social unrest. If we don't, even a 
     healthy economic and social climate will not save us.

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