Kendra S. Horn: “We also know that we could keep more talented young people in the school system if we put resources into good programs…”

“We also know that we could keep more talented young people in the school system if we put resources into good programs in the arts, learning about the arts, and the humanities. It is something that every student in college, and some of our California State universities, have to take at least one course in the arts and/or music. And that is important because it broadens the mind, and it keeps the brain moving. The arts also provide inspiration. We all know that. So we should not have to go through these annual maulings where we have to refute some new bogus charge which is utter baloney. Some earlier grants often had nothing to do with the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1965, I happened to be on the Senate staff and the establishment of the Arts and Humanities endowments were overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As far as government support of the arts in the depression, the WPA, the Works Progress Administration, put millions were put in when people were unemployed, and they brought inspiration both in murals, in symphonies, in opera.”