Arts Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

The budget for the National Endowment for the Arts was the subject of a hearing on Capitol Hill today and could affect state and local-level funding for the arts.

Eighty-six arts and cultural organizations convened on the Hill, along with celebrities including actors Jeff Daniels and Kyle MacLachlan, who were there to lend some high-profile support.

"I've been impacted by the arts since I was a little kid," MacLachlan. "I've inadvertantly been a poster child for the NEA, and I didn't even know it! So it's time to give some back."

Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., drove home the importance of continued state support for the arts, not relying on federal funding.

"Those states that think they can cut back on their arts councils and then have the federal government come in and make up for it, that's not going to happen," he said.

Congress is considering $180 million worth of appropriations for the NEA, which distributes 40 percent directly to states.

Listen to the complete story at wamu.org

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