Title: National Endowment for the Arts - Wikipedia
Headings: National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
Contents
Background
Grants
Governance
Grantmaking
Relative scope of funding
Lifetime honors
Controversy
1981 attempts to abolish
1989 objections
1990 performance artists vetoed
1995–1997 congressional attacks
Proposed defunding
Chairpersons
Nancy Hanks (1969–77)
See also
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Primary sources
External links

Content: Relative scope of funding
Artist William Powhida has noted that "in one single auction, wealthy collectors bought almost a billion dollars in contemporary art at Christie's in New York." He further commented: " If you had a 2 percent tax just on the auctions in New York you could probably double the NEA budget in two nights." Lifetime honors
The NEA is the federal agency responsible for recognizing outstanding achievement in the arts. It does this by awarding three lifetime achievement awards. The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to the art of jazz. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships are awarded for artistic excellence and accomplishments for American's folk and traditional arts. The National Medal of Arts is awarded by the President of the United States and NEA for outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States. Controversy
1981 attempts to abolish
Upon entering office in 1981, the incoming Ronald Reagan administration intended to push Congress to abolish the NEA completely over a three-year period. Reagan's first director of the Office of Management and Budget, David A. Stockman, thought the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities were "good [departments] to simply bring to a halt because they went too far, and they would be easy to defeat."