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Revised 3/09 (Sessions 1-14)
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
PUBLIC POLICY AND THE ARTS
Course P11.2463 Spring Semester 2009
Wednesday 6:45 – 8:25 PM
Silver Bldg 712 @ 32 Waverly Place
Professor Ruth Ann Stewart
ras20@nyu.edu
Vivian Yela, Admin Assistant
212.998.7417 vy8@nyu.edu
Course Prerequisite: Introduction to Public Policy (Wagner); Urban Development and the Arts
(Steinhardt); or comparable course/work experience. Email waiver requests with resume to instructor prior
to registering. A background in the arts is not required.
Course Objectives (4 credits): To broaden students’ understanding of public policy through the
knowledge, insight, and analytic skills gained from the study of public, private and commercial sector
concepts and issues that focus on the arts and culture.
Assignments: Class meetings include lectures, and active and informed class discussion requiring the
completion of weekly reading assignments and Blackboard postings.
1. Team Presentations (20%) requirements/guidelines posted on Blackboard
2. Email Feedback (20%)
o As designated on syllabus, students will email instructor (within body of email, not
as an attachment) a 200-word assessment of public policy concepts/issues they found
particularly interesting or challenging.
o Email instructor within 48 hours after designated class with Subject Box marked:
FEEDBACK 2463 #…/Student’s Last Name.
o Students will be graded on their ability to analyze and connect their topics in a
concise and timely manner to the course sessions indicated.
o Feedbacks are not intended to be philosophical ruminations, advocacy statements,
summaries of lectures, or book reviews.
3. Public Policy Issue Brief (20%) – requirements/guidelines posted on Blackboard.
4. Topic proposal (5%) for final research paper due in advance for approval by instructor. Topics
will be selected by students from issues covered by course.
5. Final Research Paper (35%) – requirements/guidelines posted on Blackboard.
Required Reading:
 Cherbo, Joni M., Ruth Ann Stewart and Margaret Jane Wyszomirski, Eds. Understanding the Arts
and Creative Sector in the United States. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ Pr, 2008. (Available
for purchase at NYU Professional Bookstore, 530 La Guardia Place)
 Blackboard folders containing relevant articles/web links for each class session that will be
updated with new additions throughout the semester.
 Books on reserve at Bobst Library [designated on syllabus as Reserves]
Recommended Additional Reading: Posted on Blackboard by session.
Web sites:
Students are encouraged to share information with instructor and students about relevant sites and articles
they encounter in their research on the web. A useful cultural policy web site will be found at
www.culturalcommons.org
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Session 1 – January 21
Creative Industries I: future of fashion in NYC
7:00 – 8:30 PM at Kiehl's Flagship, 109 Third Ave at 13th Street.
Students will be introduced to the concept of the arts as “creative industries” through a panel
discussion sponsored by SNEAC, the Wagner School’s Student Network Exploring Arts and Culture.
Although a fuller examination of creative industries falls later in the semester, the SNEAC event provides
students with a first hand opportunity to hear an analysis by academics, a NYC government official, and
creative professionals of the current and future fortunes of the fashion industry, one of the major creative
industries that drives NYC’s economy.
Required Reading:
 Elizabeth Currid. “Art, Culture, and New York City” in The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art,
and Music Drive NYC. Princeton Univ Pr, 2007. (pp.1-16)
 Blackboard articles
[January 26, 10:00 AM- 12:15 PM Puck Bldg. “Moving Forward:Renewed Role for Arts and Artists in
the Global Age” Wagner School’s Brademas Center for Study of Congress. Extra credit feedback due
after Session 2. Subject Box: FEEDBACK 2463 MOVING FORWARD/Student’s last name]
Session 2 – January 28 (Regular class meeting time and location)
Introduction to the Non Profit and Cultural Policy Fields
Required Reading:
 Outline of the U.S. Non Profit System.
 Joni Cherbo, “Introduction” (pp.1-5) and “Toward an Arts and Creative Sector” (pp. 9-27) in
Understanding the Arts and Creative Sector in the United States. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers
Univ Press, 2008.
 "Timeline of U.S. Federal Cultural Policy Milestones – 1787 to 2006." Compiled by Aimee R.
Fullman, Canadian Cultural Observatory. April 2007. http://culturescope.ca/americantimelines/cultural-policy-home_en.htm
 Charles Gray, “Economics of the Nonprofit Arts: Structure, Scope, and Trends” (pp. 202-225) in
Joni Cherbo and Margaret Wyszomirski, Eds. The Public Life of the Arts in America. New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ Pr, 2000.
 AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy, “Giving to Arts, Culture, and Humanities” in Giving USA 2009.
 Blackboard articles
Session 3 – February 4
Public Support for the Arts: the “awkward embrace”
Assignment: Team I (see Blackboard)
Required Reading:
 Neil Harris, “Public Subsidies and American Art” in Grantmakers in the Arts Newsletter (pp. 2932). Winter 1996.
 Lawrence Mankin, “Federal Arts Patronage in the New Deal” (pp.77-95) in Kevin Mulcahy and
Margaret J. Wyszomirski, Eds. America’s Commitment to Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Pr,
1995.
 Penny Von Eschen, “Ike Gets Dizzy” (pp.11-26) in Satchmo Blows up the World. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard Univ Pr., 2004.
 Mike O’Sullivan, “Remembering Dizzy Gillespie’s Jazz Diplomacy” Los Angeles: Voice of
America, 12/18/06.
 Louis Menand, “Unpopular Front: A Critic At Large” (pp.174-179) in The New Yorker, 10/17/05.
Vol. 81:32.
Session 4 – February 11
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To Change a Nation’s Policy
Assignment: Feedback #1 (Session 1,2,3 and/or 4 topic)
Required Reading:
 Milton Cummings, “To Change a Nation’s Cultural Policy: The Kennedy Administration and the
Arts in the United States” (pp. 95-120) in Mulcahy & Wyszomirski, Eds. America’s Commitment
to Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Pr, 1995.
 Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. “Notes on a National Cultural Policy” (pp. 254-261) in Politics of Hope.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962.
 Blackboard articles
Session 5 – February 18 (N.B. Feedback #2 now due after Session 6)
Art from the Top: creation of a national and sub governmental American cultural system
Required Reading:
 Wyszomirski & Mulcahy, “The Organization of Public Support for the Arts” (pp.121-143) in
America’s Commitment to Culture…
 Margaret Wyszomirski, “The Politics of Art: Nancy Hanks and the National Endowment for the
Arts” (pp. 207-245) in Jameson W. Doig and Erwin C. Hargrove, eds. Leadership and
Innovation: A Biographical Perspective on Entrepreneurs in Government. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins Univ Press, 1987.
 Julia F. Lowell and Elizabeth Ondaatje, “Introduction” (pp.1-2), “At Arm’s Length” (pp.5-15),
and “Some Facts about State Arts Agencies” (pp.53-55) in The Arts and State Governments. Santa
Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2006. www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG359
 John Witherspoon and Roselle Kovitz, “Tribal Memories” (pp. 14-21, 37-55) in Steve Behrens,
Ed. A History of Public Broadcasting. Wash, DC: Current, 2000.
 Sample agencies and arts service organizations
-- Federal: National Endowment for the Arts www.arts.gov; National Endowment for the
Humanities www.humanities.gov; Institute for Museum and Library Services www.imls.gov
Corporation for Public Broadcasting www.cpb.org.
-- State agencies : New York State Council for the Arts www.nysca.org; Ohio Arts Council
www.oac.state.oh.us
-- Service organizations: Americans for the Arts www.artsusa.org; Assoc of Performing Arts
Presenters www.artspresenters.org; American Assoc of Museums www.aam-us.org; National
Assembly of State Arts Agencies www.nasaa-arts.org
 Blackboard articles
NOTE: Topic proposal for final research paper due for approval via email (not attachment) by COB
Friday, March 27. Code email Subject Box: TOPIC PROPOSAL 2463/Student’s last name.
Session 6 – February 25
Politics of Culture I: the state arts council
Guest Lecturer: Richard Schwartz, Chairman (1999-2007), NY State Council on the Arts
Assignment: Feedback #2 (Session 5 and/or 6 topic)
Required Reading:
 See New York State Council on the Arts www.nysca.org
 Julia F. Lowell. State Arts Policy: Trends and Future Prospects. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2008.
28 pp. www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/.../ArtsParticipation/Pages/state-artspolicy-trends-and-future-prospects.aspx
 Speaker’s bio.
[February 27, 2009 6:00-8:00 p.m. CEOS in the Arts Series: Karen Rafferty, President Metropolitan
Museum and Karen Brooks Hopkins, President Brklyn Academy of Music. Friday, Einstein Auditorium,
NYU Steinhardt, 34 Stuyvesant St. at E. 9th St. and Third Avenue. Extra credit feedback due after
Session 7. Subject Box: FEEDBACK 2463 CEOs in Arts /Student’s last name]
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Session 7 – March 4
The Culture Wars: “Whose culture is it anyway?”
Assignment: Team II (see Blackboard)
Required Reading:
 Joseph W. Zeigler, "The Crisis Starts" (pp.67-85) in Arts in Crisis. Chicago: a cappella books,
1994.
 Lance Izumi, “How the Political Right Views Arts Funding” (pp. 5-9, 25) in Grantmakers in the
Arts Newsletter. Vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 1996.
 Robert Brustein, “Coercive Philanthropy” (pp.218-225) in Bradford et al, Eds. The Politics of
Culture: Policy Perspectives for Individuals, Institutions, and Communities. NY: The New Press,
2000.
 Robert Mapplethorpe. The Perfect Moment. Catalogue of the exhibit that was major focus of the
controversy. [Reserves]
 Arthur Brooks, “Are Culture Wars Inevitable in the Arts,”
http://www.culturalcommons.org/comment-print.cfm?ID=23 (N.B. Search site by article title)
Center for Arts and Culture, Wash, DC. (Posted March 2005)
 Blackboard articles
[March 5, 5:30-7:00 PM. Victor Geduld on “The Strange Commodity of Cultural Exchange: Martha
Graham’s State Dept Tour of 1955-1956” Tamiment/Bobst Library, 10th fl. Extra credit feedback due
after Session 8. Subject Box: FEEDBACK 2463 MARTHA GRAHAM/Student’s last name]
Session 8 – March 11 (N.B. Final paper topic proposal due COB today/Topic Proposal now due March 27)
The Art of the Deal: cultural policy meets real politick at The Brooklyn Museum (Case Study)
Assignment: Public Policy Issue Brief (due at March 25 class)
Required Reading:
 In Lawrence Rothfield, Ed. Unsettling Sensation. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ Pr, 01:
-- Lawrence Rothfield, “Introduction: The Interests in “Sensation” (pp.1-11)
-- Carol Becker, “The Brooklyn Controversy” (pp. 15-21)
-- James Cuno, “Sensation and the Ethics of Funding Exhibitions” (pp. 162-170)
-- J. Mark Schuster, “Who Should Pay (for the Arts and Culture?) Who Should Decide? And
What Difference Should It Make?” (pp. 72-89)
 Mark Rectanus, “Museums by Design.” Center for Arts and Culture, Washington, DC posted June
2004. www.culturalcommons.org [Search site by author’s name]
 Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection. Brooklyn Museum of Art Exhibit
Catalogue. [Reserves]
 Blackboard articles including contemporary articles directly related to the case.
Spring Break (no class March 18)
Session 9 – March 25 (N.B. Policy Brief due today’s class/Topic Proposal due 3/27/09)
Politics of Culture II: the role of advocacy
Guest Speaker: Randall Bourscheidt, President, Alliance for the Arts, New York City
Required Reading:
 See www.allianceforarts.org for following reports and GET THE FACTS about how the Alliance
works:
-- Arts as an Industry: Their Economic Impact on New York City and New York State. (2007)
-- Culture Builds New York: The Economic Impact of Capital Construction at -- New York
City’s Cultural Institutions 2003-2010. (2009)
-- The Recession & The Arts: The Impact of the Economic Downturn on Nonprofit Groups in
New York City. (January 2009)
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Robin Keegan and Neil Kleiman. Creative New York. NY: Center for an Urban Future, December
2005. www.nycfuture.org
Blackboard articles
Session 10 – April 1
Creative Industries II: creativity and the post industrial city
Assignment: Team III (see Blackboard)
Required Reading:
 Ruth Ann Stewart, “The Arts and Artist in Urban Revitalization” in Understanding…
 Richard Florida. The Rise of the Creative Class. NY: Basic Books, 2002.
-- “Preface” and “The Transformation of Everyday Life"
(For update, see “Preface” to 2004 paperback edition)
-- For further information about Florida see http://www.creativeclass.com/richard_florida
 Karrie Jacobs. “Why I Don’t Love Richard Florida” Metropolis Magazine (March 2005).
www.metropolismag.com/story/20050222/why-i-dont-love-richard-florida
 Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC). “Artist Space” www.lincnet.net
 Mark Yost, “If You Build It, the Jobs Won’t Come” Wall Street Journal, 7/17/08.
 Blackboard articles
Session 11 – April 8
Creative Industries III: technology, creativity, and public good in the digital age
Assignment: Team IV (see Blackboard)
Assignment: Feedback #3 (Session 9,10 and/or 11)
Required Reading:
 Harold Vogel, “Capital, Commerce, and the Creative Industries” (pp.143-154) in Understanding…
 U.S. Copyright Timeline. www.arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/timeline.html
 Phu Nguyen, “Internet as Medium: Art, Law, and the Digital Environment” (pp.155-170) in
Understanding…
 Robert Darnton. “Google & the Future of Books” (pp. 9-11) in New York Review of Books,
2/12/09.
 Web sites readings:
-- Center for Democracy and Technology www.cdt.org for legal, tech, and policy issues, e.g.,
piracy, copyright, FCC rulings, Digital Copyright Millennium Act, Sonny Bono Copyright
Extension Act, that are driving the policy debate (see in particular
www.cdt.org/transition/Copyright.pdf )
-- Association of Research Libraries www.arl.org and American Library Association
www.ala.org on intellectual freedom, censorship, and privacy issues (see in particular
www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/index.htm)
-- Recording Industry Association of America www.riaa.org for industry’s views on
downloading (see For Students Doing Reports).
 Marjorie Heins and Tricia Beckles. Will Fair Use Survive: Free Expression in the Age of
Copyright Control? A Report from the Brennan Center for Justice, New York Univ, 2005. (pp. 857 – an important report, can be read selectively)
http://www.fepproject.org/policyreports/WillFairUseSurvive.pdf
 Blackboard articles
Session 12 – April 15
Going Global: policy implications for the arts and artists
Assignment: Team V (see Blackboard)
Required Reading:
 J.P. Singh, “Between Cooperation and Conflict: International Trade in Culture Goods and
Services” (pp.177-196) in Understanding…
 John Brown. “Arts Diplomacy: the Neglected Aspect of Cultural Diplomacy” (pp. 72-90) in
William P. Kiehl, Ed. America’s Dialogue with the World. Wash, DC: Public Diplomacy
Council, 2006.
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Brademas Center for the Study of Congress. Moving Forward: A Renewed Role for American
Arts and Artists in the Global Age. A colloquium held January 26, 2009, NYU Wagner School.
See website www.nyu.edu/brademas/ArtsColloquium.html for following reports and related
publications:
-- US Regional Arts Organizations. Global Positioning Strategy for the Arts. (2008)
-- U.S. Dept of State. Advisory Commission on Cultural Diplomacy. Cultural
Diplomacy: The Linchpin of Public Diplomacy. (2005)
-- Bill Ivey. “America, Art, and the World” (pp.124-154) in Arts, Inc. Berkley, CA: Univ
of California Pr, 2008.
Blackboard articles
Session 13 – April 22
Politics of Culture III: cultural policy challenges in the new millennium
Guest Lecturer: Sandra Gibson, President/CEO, Assoc of Performing Arts Presenters
Assignment: Feedback #4 (Session 10, 11, and/or 12)
Required Reading:
 See www.artspresenters.org includes speaker’s bio.
 Cultural Advocacy Group. “Economic Recovery and the Arts” (1/15/09)
 NEA Grants Program. The Arts and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Public Law 115-5) www.arts.gov/grants/apply/recovery/index.html
 NEA Research Note 97. Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008. (March 2009)
www.new.gov/research/Notes/97.pdf
 Blackboard articles
Session 14 – April 14
Open discussion and wrap up
 Richard Florida. “How the Crash Will Reshape America” Atlantic Monthly (March 2009).
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903/meltdown-geography
 Bill Ivey. “Conclusion: Bridging the Cultural Divide” (pp. 261-296) in Arts, Inc. Berkley, CA:
Univ of California Pr, 2008.
 Margaret Wyszomirski, “Policy Communities and Policy Influence: Securing a Government Role
in Cultural Policy for the Twenty-First Century” (pp. 94-107) in Gigi Bradford, et al, Eds. The
Politics of Culture. NY: The New Press, 2000.
 William Ferris. “Put Culture in the Cabinet” NY Times, 12/27/08.
FINAL TERM PAPER due in hard copy in instructor’s mail box
3RD Floor Puck Bldg by 12:00 noon Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Revised 3.10.09