Results tagged “National Endowment for the Humanities” from Real Clear Arts

Last week, the National Endowment for the Humanities announced another round of grant awards, $29 million to 184 projects. They range widely in size -- from $1,000 to $1 million; subject -- from ancient civilizations to the whaling industry; and kind -- from teacher seminars to digital projects.

They're worth having a look at, as I've said here before, because many projects are as much about the arts as they are about the humanities. Some (not the teacher education efforts) seem very promising for a wide audience. To name just two:

• Film Odyssey Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based production company, won $625,000 to make a one-hour documentary called "Butterfly: The Art and Life of James McNeill Whistler." The company, under director Karen Thomas, also made "Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso" narrated by Meryl Streep and released in 2000, according to IMDB.
• The New York Botanical Garden,* in the Bronx, received $400,000 to create indoor and outdoor exhibits, plus public programs, exploring how plants inspired the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

It's good that NEH is willing to make big grants. I haven't done an serious comparison, but the National Endowment for the Arts -- except for the big grants awarded to state arts councils -- seems to spread its awards more thinly, with -- I think -- less impact. Maybe Rocco Landesman will change that; I hope Jim Leach doesn't change the NEH m.o.

You can see all the NEH grants from this round of awards in these three PDFs, in which grants are listed alphabetically by state. For Alabama to Maine, click here; for Maryland to New York, here; and for North Carolina to Wyoming, plus U.S. territories, click here.

Photo Credits: Whistler self-portrait, c. 1872, Detroit Institute of Arts (top); Dickinson's Poems, 1890 edition.

*A client supports the NYBG

We have chairmen! The Senate today confirmed the nominations of both Rocco Landesman (right) to be chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and Jim Leach to be chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Apologies for reporting earlier this week (here) that the NEH confirmation was moving along faster than the NEA. My only excuse is that's what sources told me. So they were wrong and so was I.

The NEA posted this press release earlier today (link) and posted his bio, too (here). (I'm a little late catching up because I've been downtown in criminal court on jury duty -- which is a pretty good excuse.)

I do not see the news on the NEH website yet, but the press office there did send me an email announcing Leach's confirmation.

Both still need to be sworn in, but that is expected to happen within a few days.

More news items that require little or no comment -- just a little underlining:

***The U.S. hosts the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25, and the Obama Administration has chosen the occasion to make another statement about the arts. Most prominently, Michelle Obama is taking her counterparts (read: spouses of the leaders) to the city's CAPA 6-12, which is a magnet school in downtown Pittsburgh for the arts (left). CAPA stands for Creative and Performing Arts; it has more than 800 students who major in dance, music, literary arts, theater and visual arts. The visitors will see the school's "state of the art" technology and a performance by students. Mrs. Obama will also host a luncheon at the Andy Warhol Museum and the First Couple will welcome leaders at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden.

*** Another day, another deaccessioning controversy," writes Daniel Grant in the August Maine Antiques Digest. This one, which took place in 2007, was at the St. Augustine Historical Society, which sold off, unannounced and uncompetitively, 24 oil sketches by Martin Johnson Heade. It reaped $1 million. "Theodore Stebbins Jr., curator of American art at the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, and an authority on Martin Johnson Heade, this collection of 24 works represents "the only substantial group of Heade's oil sketches in existence. Perhaps there may be a stray sketch around somewhere, but this is the main group." (more) My thanks to Donn Zaretsky for noticing that one.

***Zaha Hadid's much-delayed pavilion in Chicago's Millenium Park, built as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Daniel Burnham's Chicago Plan, has finally opened -- today. It was set to open in mid-June. The Wall Street Journal has written about the delay and the design (here) and so has the Chicago Tribune (most recently, here). If the reality matches the rendering, it looks as if it were worth waiting for.

***UPDATED: The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is meeting this morning, and is set to approve has approved the confirmation of Jim Leach as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, without hearings. Given his GOP credentials and his endorsement of President Obama last August, this is all happening as expected. When the full Senate will vote to confirm, though, is unclear. Rocco Landeman's nomination to head the NEA is not moving along as quickly.

Don't you love academic kerfuffles? In June, I wrote here about the "Enduring Questions" grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grants were all about $25,000, and they went to professors developing undergraduate courses on such weighty matters as "what is happiness?", "what is the meaning of life?" and "what are the dangers of individualism?" The goal was to promote critical thinking. Twenty courses were chosen as winners, involving a wide range of academic disciplines.

Philosophers, in turns out, were stunned -- and hurt. Those enduring questions are their territory. Inside Higher Ed reported (here) on the controversy, explaining how philosophers felt:

One source of friction was the grant description's use of the world "pre-disciplinary," which it defined as, "questions to which no discipline or field can lay an exclusive claim. In many cases they predate the formation of the academic disciplines themselves." This remark, [Ben] Bradley [a philosophy professor at Syracuse University] notes in his blog post, seems to ignore the very existence of philosophy.

And here's a bit more:

John Powell, professor of philosophy at Humboldt State University, stated in an e-mail that he sees the framing of the questions in the grant application as evidence that NEH is looking for professors to teach philosophy without the philosophical context.

"The questions are so clearly mostly old chestnut philosophy problems that they seem evidence that NEH staff don't know what philosophy is," he stated.

As it happens, the NEH refined its grant guidelines for the next round (applications due Sept. 15), but not in any way that would solve philosophers' problems with the program.

Here's a suggestion: they should propose a course on "why history?" or, better yet, "what is art?"

Back in early May, writing about the way humanities are viewed nowadays, here, I mentioned that the National Endowment for the Humanities had started a program called "Enduring Questions," offering grants of up to $25,000 (and said I'd return to the subject). Here's what it aimed to do:

Enduring Questions [is] a new grant program that encourages faculty and undergraduate students to grapple with the most fundamental concerns of the humanities by reading influential thinkers past and present.

The winners -- 20 colleges in 15 states for a total of $478,677 -- are creating pilot courses and were announced this week.

So what are the "Enduring Questions"? No big surprises. They are indeed the eternal puzzlers. The wording may differ, but basically undergraduate students will have a chance to explore:

• What is happiness?
• What is justice?
• What is freedom?
• What is human dignity?
• What is evil?
• What is leadership?
• What is the meaning of life?

And:

• Do we need God for the good life?
• How should we view mortality (especially given biomedical advances)?
• What are the dangers of individualism?
• Should art be moral?

All food for thought for the weekend.

The NEH made many grants this week ($21.4 million worth all told) and they are posted here. 

As I predicted here on May 14, President Obama has nominated former Republican Congressman Jim Leach, of Iowa, as the new chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The announcement was just made by the White House.

It didn't say much more than that. Just a brief quote from the President:

I am confident that with Jim as its head, the National Endowment for the Humanities will continue on its vital mission of supporting the humanities and giving the American public access to the rich resources of our culture.  Jim is a valued and dedicated public servant and I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead.

Leach strayed from orthodoxy and endorsed Obama last summer. Since leaving Congress in 2007, he's taught at Princeton University and has been the interim director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He's basically viewed in Washington as a good guy, and -- as I said a few weeks ago -- the only drawback with the choice is that Leach had his eye on bigger jobs, such as ambassador to China or a financial job.

The White House press release is here.

Funny coincidence -- coming so soon after my last post, yesterday, about "Picturing America" and "Adventures in Modern Art," the National Endowment for the Humanities is just out now with its new Request for Proposals for School Collaboration projects with "Picturing America."  This time, the NEH wants:

 proposals for local and regional projects that foster collaboration between K-12 educators and humanities scholars to encourage engagement with the rich resources of American art to tell America's story. The Picturing America School Collaboration Projects grant opportunity is designed to help teachers and librarians whose schools display the Picturing America images form connections with courses in the core curriculum.

That generally means conferences where teachers who use "Picturing America" materials can trade ideas with scholars, museum professionals and library personnel about its use in teaching. 

Here's the link.

Early yesterday morning, I caught the news that Rocco Landesman, a Broadway producer and president of Jujamcyn Theaters, had been appointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; then I went out on an all-day assignment. I expected that, by the time I got home last evening, there'd be a lot of commentary on the choice. But I haven't seen any: people seem to be as mystified as I am by it.* Landesman's press over the years paints him as a dynamo and as outspoken. Other than that, we'll have to wait and see.

About a week ago, I'd picked up word that the Obama Administration was getting close to naming chairs of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the NEA, but the White House press office put me off, saying they had nothing specific to say "for now." But with the NEA job filled, pending Landesman's confirmation, can the NEH nomination be far behind?

I don't think so, so I am going out on a limb here, based on fresh reporting: I think former Republican Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa has the NEH job. His name surfaced as a contender last year in a Chicago Tribune story. Among his attributes: he co-founded the Congressional Humanities Caucus, endorsed Obama last summer, plays into the President's desire to be bipartisan, and is currently a visiting professor at Princeton. And he hasn't gotten any of the financial policy posts his name has been bruited for or an ambassadorial post.

I haven't tied this down completely, but the White House is now "no comment"-ing, rather than suggesting that nothing is imminent. I expect a leak to The New York Times or the Washington Post soon, possibly by Friday. 

Would Leach be good for the job? He knows Washington, and he's well-liked there; that's good. One fear is that he was hoping for a larger job, and didn't get it.

*UPDATE MID-MORNING: some newspapers have weighed in on Landesman, positively, citing various people calling the appointment "bold."

Well, here's an interesting push-pull reaction. 

I often write about philanthropy, and a few weeks ago, I almost wrote a piece about a $50 million gift to Yale University to create a global affairs institute. As if we need another one, I thought. What a waste.

Then on Wednesday I was reading an entry on Stanley Katz's blog (he is the director of the Center  for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies at Princeton). It talked about his recent trip to Miami University, Ohio, where he gave the keynote speech at the opening of a new Humanities Center. Hurrah, I thought. (That's part of the Miami U campus at right).

On second thought, however, I wondered why I reacted so differently to the two developments. Surely, nowadays, global affairs are on everyone's mind. The humanities are decidedly not. With the possible exception of regular readers of this website, I wonder how many Americans would agree with me vs. the donors to Yale.

As Katz wrote on his blog a few weeks ago, in response to a New York Times article that outlined the troubles faced by humanities scholars in this recession: 

The problem for humanities faculty is much older and much more serious -- it is that as universities have increasingly overvalued what they take to be useful knowledge over what they believe to be useless knowledge (the humanities being the poster child), the humanities have taken a series of hits....it will continue to be the case until our community develops a more convincing case for the crucial role we play in education -- and society.

 

The same is true for the arts.

It's widely known that American art, pre the AbEx era, is rarely seen or appreciated overseas. But now Saudia Arabians are having a look and getting a quick education in both American art and American history.

I learned over the weekend that from Apr. 15 - 25, people in Jeddah will have an opportunity to view reproductions of about 40 classic American art works -- works like Whistler's Harmony in Blue and Gold, Cassatt's Boating Party (right), Stella's Brooklyn Bridge, Homer's Veteran in a New Field, and Eakins's John Biglin in a Single Scull. They are all included in one of the National Endowment for the Humanities' biggest successes of the last few years, an effort to teach American history through visual art called "Picturing America." The "Picturing America" exhibition, according to Arab News, was organized by Jeddah's Culture and Tourism Department and the American Consulate there.

What a splendid idea. I only wish they could see the real works.  

"Picturing America" was a signature program of Bruce Cole, who stepped down as NEH chairman earlier this year, and I wrote about it, and Cole, for the Wall Street Journal in 2007, which you can read here or here.

So far, about 80,000 schools and libraries across the U.S. have requested and received the "Picturing America" reproductions and curriculum -- plus some U.S. embassies, Cole tells me. The program was inspired. It would be wonderful if it paved the way for greater integration between art and school curricula in other subjects, too.

And it would be nice if American art won a greater following around the world.  

Photo Credit: The National Gallery of Art

The National Endowment for the Humanities gets far too little attention, imho. So I took some time this past weekend to look at its most recent round of grants, which were announced earlier this month. Nearly 200 awards worth a total of $20 million were made to cultural institutions, universities and libraries in 36 states and Washington, D.C., plus a couple of scholars working overseas. The grants cover digital humanities, preservation/access, educational and public programs, research and collections.

The biggest award -- $1 million -- will go to the Asia Society for a traveling exhibition, plus website, symposium, educational and public programs, catalogue and film on the life of the Buddha. The traveling show focuses on the "art of Buddhist pilgrimages" to sites important in the Buddha's life. The Asia Society hasn't issued a press release about this, yet at least, nor is there any further information about it on its website, so the show must be a ways down the road. But it sounds like an interesting show.

The Newberry Library in Chicago actually received more money in this grant round, just over $1.2 million, but that total covers five separate projects involving educational programs, archives, fellowships, and so on. One grant will pay to plan an online and traveling exhibition called "Make Big Plans: Daniel Burnham's Vision of An American Metropolis," about the 1909 Plan of Chicago, which is said to be America's first comprehensive urban plan.

There are plenty of other interesting awards on the grant list. For this post, I focused on those that will aid exhibitions:

• $250,000 to the Brooklyn Museum for a traveling exhibition on the Plains Indian tipi
• nearly $350,000 to the Frick Collection to digitize "deteriorating" photographs of American paintings 
• $300,000 to the Oakland Museum for a permanent gallery on California history
• $350,000 to the University of Illinois at Chicago for a new core exhibition at the Jane Addams-Hull House Museum
• $380,000 to the Peabody-Essex Museum for a traveling and online exhibition called "Fiery Pool: Maya and the Mythic Sea," plus a catalogue and public programs.

The rest are listed on the NEH website. I know several cultural groups -- not just museums, but orchestras and theaters -- who say they've never applied for an NEH grant.

Depending on the project, they may or may not qualify. But I think there's more there than many people realize. In 2006, for example, the Frick received a $750,000 challenge grant toward a $3.75 million endowment for a senior decorative arts curator. I mentioned that grant to another museum director recently, who was stunned.

When budget time comes around, the NEH deserves as much support as the NEA.  

Photo: Standing Buddha, Afghanistan, 1st Century   

I know AJ's readers want to believe that the Obama Administration will do wonders for the arts and humanities communities. I know you don't like to hear otherwise. But I have to tell you honestly what my reporting turns up: so far, not so good.

Yes, the $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts in the stimulus bill was great news. But while we wait for appointments to head the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the appointment of Kareem Dale (below) as mini-czar -- which is now likely to be temporary -- and two lesser appointments suggest politics-as-usual.  

Last night, The Daily Beast published my report on this. As I hinted when I first wrote here about Dale (stay tuned, I said), his appointment is not likely to last very long. It's sad that his name was discovered by, or leaked to, The New York Times in the first place. 

The most disappointing element of the story, however, is the appointment of Hollywood fundraiser Jeremy Bernard as the NEH's White House and Congressional liaison; it's an important job. Bernard claims a bachelor's degree from Hunter College on his website, but Hunter says he did not graduate. When queried, the NEH said the degree is not in his documentation for the appointment. But the whole thing, not just the resume inflation, makes him a bit of an odd fit for the scholarly NEH.

I am pretty sure, by the way, that the White House has recognized this whole situation as a personnel snafu that has to be fixed. And it will -- the question now is how and when. 

Here's a link to my Beast article.

And P.S.  I did not write the headline or deck.