Seeking Policies for Cultural Democracy: Examining the Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Nonprofit Arts

Abstract

Against a backdrop exploring the relationships between cultural democracy and nonprofit arts funding policies, this article describes the impact of unwritten arts funding policies that are manifest in tax breaks for individuals, foundations, and corporations as well as federal contributions to nonprofit arts organizations in the United States. We argue that such funding policies, both explicit and implicit, are impoverishing the local arts in the US, and by extension, democratic participation, including education, in the arts. We further probe the relationship of art education and democratic practices, suggesting that a vibrant U.S. democracy is related to interrupting cycles of cultural reproduction, particularly at the nonprofit arts funding policy level.