The above small article ran in the New York Times Magazine this past Sunday, September 15. It was a sidebar to an article about education. Obviously Ike understood the importance of art, since he had taxpayers foot the bill for a White House Staffer to prepare his materials. I'm assuming he didn't wash out his brushes either. I say, money well spent. However, It got me to thinking. What have some of our other nation's leaders said on the subject of the arts? So I did a Google search, and this is what I came up with–in chronological order.
The Arts and Sciences, essential to the prosperity of the State and to the ornament of human life, have a primary claim to the encouragement of every lover of his country and mankind. - George Washington
I must study politics and war, that my sons may study mathematics and philosophy…in order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, music and architecture. - John Q.Adams
I presume, sir, in painting your beautiful portrait, you took your idea of me from my principles, and not from my person. - Abraham Lincoln
Every time an artist dies, part of the vision of mankind passes with him.Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. - Franklin D. Roosevelt
I see little of more importance to the future of our country and of civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.Aeschylus and Plato are remembered today long after the triumphs of Imperial Athens are gone. Dante outlived the ambitions of thirteenth century Florence. Goethe stands serenely above the politics of Germany, and I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over cities, we too will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age Elizabeth also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American artThe life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is very close to the center of a nation's purpose- and is a test of the quality of a nation's civilization.We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. - John Fitzgerald Kennedy:
Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves and to others the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish. - Lyndon B. Johnson
Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them – a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music. - Gerald Ford
Music is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and by studying music in schools, students have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a new perspective. - Bill Clinton
In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education.The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create. - Barack Obama
Marvin Mattelson is now conducting his classes and workshops online in Full HD 1080p through his Fine Art Portrait Academy. For further information, or to register for an upcoming offering, please follow this link to his teaching page.
Until next time…
etc, etc says
September 21, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Given the choice between two political parties, one of which does not support the arts but likes to whine about “culture war”, and the other one which applies principles of affirmative action and welfare to control the arts in order to promote its own agenda, I’ll choose the former as the lesser of two evils.
Marvin Mattelson says
September 21, 2012
In this great country we all have the opportunity to vote for any agenda we choose, but what does that have to do with what our commanders in chief have had to say on the subject of art?