NEA Chairman Landesman Requests $161 Million From Congress

According to the New York Times, Rocco Landesman, Broadway theatre producer and chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts requested a budget of $161.3 million for 2011 in a budget testimony to Congress today.  This is the same amount that the NEA requested for the 2010 fiscal year. (Congress wound up allotting the organization 167. 5 million for 2010). Respectful of the tough economy, Landesman presented a scaled down budget to a House subcommittee, cutting the American Masterpieces program overall, though keeping its popular Big Read component in tact. 

$5 million will go towards Our Town, a pilot program, which will support the creation of local arts districts. Landesman suggested that any money allotted to the NEA over the requested 161.3 million would go towards the Our Town program, expanding it to include more than the 35 communities planned.

The National Endowment for the Arts  is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1995.

 Between 1965 and 2008, the agency has made in excess of 128,000 grants, totaling more than $4 billion. Since 1996, the NEA has rebounded with a 2004 budget of $121 million. For 2008, the budget was $144.7 million, and $155 million for 2009.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski

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