Member-only story
Open Letter to Mrs. Karen Pence
Appealing to the nation’s “Art Educator.”
I would prefer not to call you SLOTUS because it just doesn’t sound right. It reminds me of slugs and my letter may already appear a little salty.
Another Medium writer wrote you a letter in 2017 and I am writing you in 2019 with the same concerns. Your husband’s boss has proposed to neuter the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This is in addition to severe education cuts in both K-12 and higher education. This is the third time Trump has called for a complete defunding of arts programs. As an artist and as an arts educator, this should make you upset.
The National Endowment for the Arts’ budget is just $29 million, a budget so low that it can be completely funded by Andy Warhol’s painting of Elvis with $1 million left over. The goal of the NEA is to “[bring] great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.” A budget that small sets up the NEA to fail those communities that need art the most: the people who make up the majority of your political base.
The Trump Administration has made it crystal clear it considers education (and the rural areas of our nation) to be a low…