[Dixielandjazz] National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award

[Stephen G Barbone]

Hmmmm. By all means cut the funding for Jazz Recognition. After all it  
is arguably THE only uniquely American (invented here) art form.    
Note especially the last paragraph. I vote for increasing demand.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband


 From the NPR music site, entitled  A BLOG SUPREME.

President Obama's 2012 budget proposal, delivered to Congress on  
Monday, proposes to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts'  
Jazz Masters award. The change is one part of a significant budget  
reduction for the NEA at large.

The NEA Jazz Masters honor, given for lifetime achievement in jazz  
artistry or advocacy, has been bestowed on 119 artists and groups  
since 1982, all living at the time of their award. It currently comes  
with a $25,000 grant, plus opportunities to participate in educational  
programs across the country. Similar honors for opera and folk music  
will also be eliminated.

NPR Music, with WBGO and XM Satellite Radio, recorded and webcast the  
previous two NEA Jazz Masters ceremonies, in January of this year and  
last.

Somewhat in its place, the NEA American Artists of the Year honor will  
be introduced. Awards will be made available to participants in a wide  
array of performing and visual arts. The NEA's appropriations request  
(opens PDF) also specifies that both "individuals who have devoted a  
lifetime" and "extraordinary" artists in "mid-career" will be eligible.

The appropriations request did not specify the number of American  
Artists of the Year to be recognized, or the monetary award they will  
receive. It did state the new honorific would be "a less expensive  
effort" than the multiple celebrations it replaces.

The restructuring of the award comes alongside an over 12 percent  
slash in the proposed budget for the National Endowment for the Arts,  
compared to the 2011 fiscal year. The NEA's proposed budget for 2012  
is $146,255,000, an amount $21,245,000 less than the 2010 and 2011  
budgets. Budget cuts were also announced for the National Endowment  
for the Humanities, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the  
National Gallery of Art, among other federal arts and humanities  
institutions.

The budgetary news comes on the heels of a heated discussion in the  
arts administration community after NEA chairman Rocco Landesman  
asserted, during a theater conference, that the U.S. had too many arts  
organizations compared to the size of its audiences. "You can either  
increase demand or decrease supply," he said. "Demand is not going to  
increase, so it is time to think about decreasing supply." He later  
expanded on his thoughts online.