Art & Politics: Museums Advocacy Day’s Letter-Writing Campaign; Mark di Suvero’s Medal

Yesterday and today were Museums Advocacy Day. (Maybe they should have made "Museums" singular and "Day" plural.)

Museum devotees gathered in Washington to urge their Congressmen to support appropriations benefiting the nation's cultural institutions. This effort had particularly urgency this year, given the threatened cuts to funding during this time of fiscal austerity.

There's a whole #MuseumsAdvocacy thing going on now, where the twitterati are singing the praises of museums.

More importantly, the website of the American Association of Museums makes it easy for you to send to your legislative representatives pre-composed letters (which you can preview and personalize), by filling in your contact information.

On a more ceremonial note, President Obama will award 10 National Medals of Arts at the White House tomorrow. Representing the visual arts: sculptor Mark di Suvero (who is married to a New York City politico, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Kate Levin).

Here's the official citation:

Mark di Suvero for his achievements as one of the most prominent American artists to emerge from the Abstract Expressionist era. Exhibited throughout the world, Mr. di Suvero's exemplary sculptures depict a strong political and social vision, demonstrating the power of the arts to improve our world.

As with the White House's description of the "patriotism" in the works of Jasper Johns, who recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, I'm not quite sure this captures what di Suvero's work is about. He does have a "strong political and social vision," but whether that's "depicted" in his monumental abstract constructions is another question.

It seems that the White House likes to confer political significance on the art that it honors:


One of many di Suveros displayed (at sat upon, at left) at Storm King Art Center, Mourntainville, NY

In any event, it's a nice and well deserved honor, and you can view the ceremony live, here, tomorrow at 1:45 p.m.

Speaking of honors, my warm thanks go out to CultureGrrl Donors 157 (city unknown) and 158 from Fort Worth, and Repeat Donor 159 from Boston, all of whom have cited my blog as "Deserving of Reader Support" (and politically worthy).