ABSTRACT
Subsidy of the arts as a matter of national policy and action arrived belatedly in the United States. With federal subsidies, most notably through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and its correlative state councils, along with increased private foundation and corporate support, the condition of artists and the arts has begun to change in significant ways. There is no doubt that such developments signify a major shift in the attitude toward the arts of the general public and major institutions in this country. This chapter reviews some of the history and highlights of subsidization in the United States. It considers a number of areas in which a broadened and enlightened policy of subsidization could lead to differences in practice. A conception of art as a social activity that helps in generating a communal setting acknowledges that aesthetic experience makes a social contribution, a contribution toward the experience of full community.
