Dear President-Elect Obama,

I’m very happy that you won the election.  I voted for you, and spent a good deal of time on the phone with other people trying to convince them to vote for you as well.  As someone who works in the arts and specializes in international music, and who travels abroad fairly regularly, I know full well that the international community has been hoping and dreaming for a president like you for a long time, and I’m so glad to see that my fellow Americans jumped on board as well.

As you know, it’s time to get to work.  There are life-and-death issues on the table here: an economic depression, two wars, staggering unemployment levels, and so on.  Perhaps I’m selfish to think that the arts also deserve a good bit of attention, but I honestly believe that the arts industry creates jobs, combats xenophobia, stimulates creativity across the board, creates national identity and cultural pride, and adds necessary joy to people’s lives.   I certainly don’t believe that the arts can solve all of our problems, but they are so very important.

One of the things that impressed me about you early on was the fact that you actually laid out a detailed policy statement for the arts as part of your overall platform.  The existence of this statement was important in and of itself (McCain did not have one), but the fact that from my perspective it was actually an exceptional statement was very encouraging.  And now it’s time to get to work on it.  (Read Obama’s platform on the arts here, in PDF format)

Can the arts save schools?  Maybe not by themselves, but every study done on the subject shows that early exposure to music, dance, theatre, and visual arts helps young people’s brains learn abstract thought and creative reasoning, and ultimately improve test scores.  There are more tangible benefits as well – learning about other culture’s art gives students a broad understanding of that culture, which makes it easier to study history, civics, literature, foreign languages, anthropology, and other humanities.  You say you want to increase funding the arts in schools?  Do it, and do it the day you enter into the oval office.  You say you want to create an “Artist Corps” wherein master artists assist schools and after-school programs with arts education?  Get on it.  You promise to be a champion of arts in education, and with a majority of high-risk schools failing in this country, the time is now.

But kids aren’t the only ones who benefit from the arts.  There’s a direct correlation between communities with an involved arts sector and communities with high “quality of life” ratings.  But even in cities and towns where the arts are considered an important part of life, the industry is struggling.  I’m not talking about the privatized sector of the music business – they have made the same mistakes that so many big businesses have made, and I’m not qualified to talk about how they can rectify those mistakes.  I’m talking about the non-profit performing arts centers, the galleries run by artists’ collectives, the small towns running “village green” concert series, the tourism-funded theatre festivals.  These are the industries that are in danger.  Many have been able to stay alive, due to the sheer willpower and boundless creative energy of the people who are running them, and it’s time to give these people a break and fund the arts better.  We know how to make a lot happen with a little.  As of right now, the National Endowment for the Arts is funded at just under $145 million dollars.  Double that, and watch what we can do.  It’s a drop in the bucket on a national level, but down here in the trenches, we’re breaking our backs for $5,000 grants – throw us a bone.  We promise, we’ll deliver.

It’s also time to return funding to PBS and NPR, part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose national funding costs the government somewhere around $400 million total.  PBS, through its diverse programming that highlights great American and international arts, has introduced millions to traditional Irish stepdancing via Riverdance, has inspired a generation of non-professional artists to go ahead and try painting “happy little trees” with Bob Ross, gave a generation of people who grew up on casserole a basic knowledge of cooking and enjoying French cuisine with Julia Child… in other words, opened windows of artistic creativity to every American with a television set.  Imagine what they could do with twice the funding!   NPR is similarly diverse, and keeps a finger on the pulse on the world of music, literature, and theatre.  It also encourages programming at a local level, thereby fostering local pride and local flavor in an easily accessible format.  Double their money and watch them grow.  It’s important.

And let’s take care of the artists, too.  You say that you want to provide affordable, high-quality health care to all Americans, and that includes artists (who, as self-employers, are often not covered).  I agree with you wholeheartedly.  As someone whose circle includes hundreds of artists who are doing a bit better than starving, but still aren’t quite making it, I see the ramifications of their inability to afford health care not only on themselves, but on their families.  Though the nearly-universal lack of health insurance does tend to pull the artistic community together in unexpected ways (at least a couple of times per year, a benefit concert is held to help pay for someone’s medical bills), it shouldn’t have to be like that.  Let’s hope we can get your health care plan up and running before one of my artist friends gets sick or hurt again.

And now, for the part of your platform that touched me the most: attracting foreign talent and using American artists to foster cross-cultural diplomacy.  President-Elect Obama, you nailed it.  As a citizen of the world yourself, you clearly understand the benefits of combatting xenophobia and encouraging diplomacy not just on a government level, but on a citizen-to-citizen level as well.  You say you want to create a corps of artist ambassadors?  I love it.  You say you want to streamline the visa process for international artists coming to the United States?  Sir, I bow down before you.  Those of us who are trying to present international artists for a living have just felt the weight of a decade of international discrimination lifted from our shoulders.  Thank you in advance.  I’m sure you’ll follow through.

There’s some other stuff you can do too, you know, and once you’ve been in the White House for a little while, I’ll be getting on you about:

• Subsidizing touring bands in order to allow them to use alternative-energy vehicles.
• Rewarding non-public television and radio stations for broadcasting folk and international performing arts.
• Creating initiatives that encourage “citizen art.”
• Creating an “Arts Adminstrator Corps” alongside the aforementioned Artist Corps, who go to low-income regions and help locals create arts programs, museums, festivals, concert series, etc.
• Allowing non-profit arts workers tuition credits, wherein they (despite legendary small salaries) can return to school for additional degrees or certifications at highly discounted or free rates.
• Funding research on the arts, and how they relate to science, development, education, etc.
• Creating an “Artistic Free Trade” agreement with several other countries, wherein artists are free to perform in any of the participating nations without visa requirements.
• Incentivize international artist visits to the USA by relaxing tax burdens on short-term, relatively low-paying artist visitors.
• Encourage all major arts initiatives to include at least a 60/40 artist-to-bureaucrat ratio when creating policies.  Ultimately, artists must control art.

There’s more.  There always is.  One of the things that impresses me most about you is that you walk the walk, and try to lead by example.  Perhaps it’s time for Malia and Sasha to be taking some violin, theatre, painting or pottery lessons?  And regular command performances at the White House should include musicians from across the spectrum – classical, folk, ethnic… it all belongs.  And decorate your office with great art.  And tell Michelle to keep looking fabulous.  The arts are good for all of us – we both know it.

So again, congratulations!  Now do good, okay?

Love,

Megan Romer