1. An Informative Paper on the National Endowment for the Arts:
Kennedys, Contemporaries, and Commentaries on Censorship
By Jeremy C Jarvis
July 17, 2015

2. The National Endowment for the Arts-the NEA-is a unique agency in the panoply
of federal institutions. Created by the Congress of the United States and President
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, the NEA was not intended to solve a problem, but
rather to embody a hope. The NEA was establishedto nurture American creativity,
to elevate the nation’s culture, and to sustain and preserve the country’s many
artistic traditions. The Arts Endowment’s mission was clear-to spread this artistic
prosperity throughout the land, from the dense neighborhoods of our largest
cities to the vast rural spaces, so that every citizen might enjoy America’s great
cultural legacy.
Editors: Mark Bauerlein and Ellen Grantham, National Endowment for the Arts: A History 1965-
2008, 1 (2009)(emphasis added) Now approaching its Golden Anniversary, the history of the
National Endowment for the Arts is as iconic as a Chuck Close photo, as fluid in motion as a prima
ballerina with the American BalletTheatre, with dramatic high notes as those of a National Opera
coloratura soprano, and, at times, as explicitin subject as a Robert Mapplethorpe photo. National
Endowment for the Arts, About the NEA, Highlights in NEA History, http://arts.gov/about/40th-
anniversary-highlights (last visited July 14, 2015) But like all great works of art, the story begins
with years of preparation before the first stroke of the painter’s brush to the canvas of history.
The nation’s forefathers recognized the importance of art in the lives of American citizens and its
power in preserving and sharing their stories. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George
Washington all spoke of the virtues of the study of art. Other arts pioneers included James
Smithson and Charles Lang Freer whose contributions led to the establishment of the
Smithsonian Institute and the Freer Gallery respectively. President Roosevelt formed a shortly-

3. lived “Council of Fine Arts” at the turn of the twentieth century. The Works Progress
Administration was created in the New Deal and nurtured its own signature style of artwork.
Presidents Truman and Eisenhower investigated and recommended ways in which the federal
government could become involved in the arts. But it was President Kennedy’s love of the arts
and his Executive Order 11112 that “establishe[d] the President’s Advisory Council on the Arts
[on June 12, 1963]. The President [was] assassinated before members [could] be appointed. On
December 2, 1964, [almost a year before the creation of the NEA] President Johnson [broke]
ground for the Kennedy Center.” The National Endowment for the Arts, 1965-2000: A Brief
Chronology of Federal Support for the Arts (2000) President Kennedy wasn’t the only one by that
name who had a hand in weaving the great American arts tapestry. It was First Lady Jacqueline
Kennedy who asked then French Minister of Culture André Malraux at a White House dinner she
was hosting in his honor if the Mona Lisa could be displayed in America. The smiling lady and her
mischievous eyes wandered across “more than half a million people” in her 27 days on display at
the National Gallery of Art. National Endowment for the Arts: A History 1965-2008 (supra)
And on September 29, 1965, “President Johnson sign[ed] the National Foundation on the Arts
and the Humanities Act, establishing the National Endowment for the Arts and the National
Endowment for the Humanities”. The National Endowment For The Arts, 1965-2000: A Brief
Chronology of Federal Support for the Arts (2000)
“The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes,
and strengthens the creative capacityof our communities by providing allAmericans with diverse
opportunities for arts participation.” www.arts.gov The NEA is responsible for distributing grants

4. to various artists, performers, designers, etc. The resulting works are to enrich the national
culture and arts legacy.The NEA is advisedby the 18 members of the National Council of the Arts.
These “[m]embers are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate for six-year,
staggered terms….The Presidential appointments, by law, are selected for their widely
recognized knowledge of the arts or their expertise or profound interest in the arts.” National
Endowment for the Arts, About the NEA: National Council on the Arts
http://arts.gov/about/national-council-arts (last visited July 16, 2015) Original members of the
Council “appointed by President Lyndon Johnson…included noted artists such as Ralph Ellison,
Paul Engle, Elizabeth Ashley, Gregory Peck, Oliver Smith, William Pereira, Minoru Yamasaki,
George Stevens Sr., Leonard Bernstein, Agnes de Mille, David Smith, and Isaac Stern.” (id.)
Country music legend Lee Greenwood currently serves on the Council. (id.)
Is It Art? The Never-Ending Argument
The decisions by the Council of which artists would receive NEA funding have not always been
received well and have at times come with quite colorful critique and even characterized as
blasphemous.
In 1989, controversial photographs that appeared in two NEA-funded exhibits
prompted public outcry over the agency’s grant-making procedures. Congress
reacted to the controversy by inserting an amendment into the NEA’s 1990
reauthorization bill. The amendment became §954(d)(1), which directs the
Chairperson to ensure that “artistic excellence and artistic merit are the criteria

5. by which [grant] applications are judged, taking into consideration general
standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the
American public.”
National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, 524 U.S. 569, Syllabus (1997) Karen Finley and three
other performance artists known for the provocative works applied for NEA grants before
§954(d)(1) was enacted. “An advisory panel recommended approval of each of their projects, but
the Council subsequently recommended disapproval, and funding was denied.” NEA v. Finley (id.)
The artists filed suits alleging violations of their First Amendment rights and brought a challenge
that §954(d)(1) was “void for vagueness and impermissibly viewpoint based.” NEA v. Finley (id.)
The suit would be granted certiorari to the Supreme Court. And the controversial group would
become known as the NEA Four. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor delivered the majority opinion
declaring “Section 954(d)(1) is facially valid, as it neither inherently interferes with First
Amendment rights nor violates constitutional vagueness principles….Section 954(d)(1) merely
admonishes the NEA to take decency and respect into consideration, and the Court does not
perceive a realisticdanger that it willbe utilized to preclude or punish the expression of particular
views.” NEA v. Finley (id.)(internal quotations removed)(emphasis added)
Thus, the history of the National Endowment for the Arts as exhibited through its selection of
artists and performances was to be drawn using a new standard. Was the new law of the land
government censorship? Was it a devastating critique penned by conservatism and Christianity?
Or was it, perhaps, art?