American Cultural Organizations Get Less Than 5 Percent of What They Requested From Congress’s New $2 Trillion Aid Package

As countries around the globe assemble relief packages to
support businesses and individuals put out of work by coronavirus,
the art industry is angling for a piece of the pie. But art
institutions in the United States will receive far less support
than those in other first-world countries.

The US government’s $2 trillion aid package—the largest stimulus
in modern American history—passed unanimously in the Senate just
before midnight on Wednesday and is expected to be approved by the
House of Representatives on Friday. It includes $75 million each
for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment
for the Humanities; $50 million for the Institute of Museum and
Library Services; $25 million for the Kennedy Center; and $7.5
million for the Smithsonian Institution.

For comparison, England has offered $190
million to shore up artists and arts organizations affected by
the crisis. Germany has offered a staggering $54 billion for its
cultural industries.

The final US figures may be disappointing for museum advocates.
The American Alliance of Museums, backed by some Democratic
lawmakers in New York and elsewhere, had asked for $4
billion. Although that sum was an outsize number that few
observers believed would actually be approved, the final figure
remains a small fraction of that. In their letter to
Congressional leaders, the AAM wrote: “We estimate as many as 30
percent of museums, mostly in small and rural communities, will not
re-open without significant and immediate emergency financial
assistance.”

An earlier version of the bill, introduced by House Democrats,
had included $300 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
and another $300 million to the National Endowment for the
Humanities, each of which would pass on that money to individual
museums and other institutions in need. The Senate bill, delivered
by Republicans, put those numbers at $100 million each. It is
unclear exactly how the final sum for was cut to $75 million
each.

The efforts to promote a government arts bailout were supported
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which on Tuesday announced the launch
of #CongressSaveCulture, an effort advocating for federal
relief funds to be sent to nonprofit institutions. Along with the
aforementioned request for $4 billion to be injected into
financially at-risk museums, the Met also asked for “the
implementation of a universal charitable tax deduction to
incentivize giving to these institutions.” This measure was not
included in the final bill.

The post American Cultural Organizations Get Less Than 5
Percent of What They Requested From Congress’s New $2 Trillion Aid
Package appeared first on artnet News.