Friday, March 27, 2009

Whoa. I'm getting serious or something.
Re: Arts Funding

From: joeyostrander@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Economic Recovery Package Must Include Arts
Date: March 27, 2009 4:59:08 PM GMT-04:00
To: senator@stabenow.senate.gov

Really!?!

Thanks, for the cookie cutter response. It makes me feel like you really care. No response at all could have made me feel less neglected.

I fail to see how any of your attached email relates to continued annual loss of support for Art.

American Culture and Art are dying, Senator Stabenow, particularly in Michigan. The only self-sustaining visual art form in our country any longer is filmmaking. We cannot rely solely on a consumer public, nor especially on a capitalist economy to revive us. Sustenance for Art has always needed support from government.

Today is little different from days when men painted Roman chapels, or carved the physiques of great leaders from stone, from days when photographers documented for and future playwrights were employed by Roosevelt's WPA. Grecian sculptors, Michaelangelo, Dorothea Lange, Arthur Miller, each were supported and funded by their governments. Without such state-sponsored efforts, these historic artists could not have achieved such historic works.

American government has begun to decreasingly offer financial aid toward our Art education, production, and appreciation. The NEA has grown progressively weaker, more overlooked, and grossly underfunded relative to the evolution of the rest of our economy. A continued neglect of Art in America's future will foster the bankruptcy of our culture, and likewise the morale of our society.

This is not an argument. This is a warning, of inevitability.

Joey Ostrander
Photographer & Filmmaker
SE Michigan



On Mar 27, 2009, at 1:27 PM, Senator Debbie Stabenow wrote:

Joseph Ostrander
413 Ballard St, Apartment 1
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Thank you ...

... for contacting me to express your concerns about the economic recovery plan recently passed by Congress. I supported this legislation because ... (click for full letter) ...

... ... [ blah , blah , senate intern , or computer drone , sent this ] ... ...

... Thank you again for contacting me. As always, please continue to keep me informed about issues of concern to you and your family.

Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator

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