When conservatives consider the Nationwide Endowment for the Arts, they give thought to government-funded outrages like Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ,” that includes a crucifix pictured in a glass of the artist’s urine. On Friday’s All Issues Thought of, NPR discovered a brand new subsidy scandal, that Trump’s NEA is funding patriotic artwork, together with pro-Ronald Reagan materials.
The headline:
Patriotic artwork will get the highlight as NEA funding shifts. Cue ‘The Ronald Reagan Overture’
NPR arts reporter Chloe Veltman started on the Reagan Presidential Library, the place “A regional group, the New West Symphony, created ‘The Ronald Reagan Overture’ with the assistance of a $25,000 Backyard of American Heroes grant from the NEA.” Trump needs the NEA to honor heroic People.
VELTMAN: The NEA funds way over patriotic programming, however this being the 250th anniversary 12 months, there is a specific emphasis on nationwide delight. In 2025, the Trump administration rescinded about $21 million in NEA grants, in response to advocacy nonprofit People for the Arts. The cash was pulled from tasks across the nation that didn’t meet the administration’s funding goals, for instance, in the event that they had been too centered on variety and inclusion. The administration stated it was prioritizing grants for extra patriotic works, like army band performances.
Horrors! Nevertheless it wasn’t all horrible information. Juan Dies with the Mexican folks music group Sones De Mexico Ensemble figured he might use the brand new guidelines to get some cash, with possibly a little bit DEI spirit in Espanol.
VELTMAN: He repitched the undertaking to the NEA, this time utilizing Trump administration-approved topics like aviator Amelia Earhart and baseball star Roberto Clemente. The grant got here by means of.
SONES DE MEXICO ENSEMBLE: (Singing in Spanish).
VELTMAN: Like different corridos, Dies’ American Heroes ballads are celebratory, however additionally they do not shrink back from darker particulars. For instance, the racism Clemente confronted as a high-profile Puerto Rican in the USA.
SONES DE MEXICO ENSEMBLE: (Singing in Spanish).
DIES: I do not really feel like we’re compromising our objectives or mission. By taking part in with the principles, we’re in a position to give our perspective on the lives of those American heroes.
Ah, American racism! That’s a theme NPR can get behind. Patriotism, not a lot. They discovered their artwork knowledgeable to elucidate the NPR view:
DAVID LUBIN: There are two types of patriotism. One is my nation, proper or fallacious, that America is the best place on the face of the Earth.
VELTMAN: That is David Lubin. The retired Wake Forest College professor has written books about American artwork, politics and cultural propaganda.
LUBIN: After which the patriotic feelings of, we will do higher and it is our mission in life to maintain hewing to the beliefs of the origins of the nation.
VELTMAN: Lubin says patriotic artwork is a useful gizmo for governments as a result of it may possibly unite individuals round insurance policies and ideologies. However, he says, when a rustic is as politically divided as ours is immediately, patriotic artwork usually solely finally ends up reinforcing rifts.
LUBIN: It feeds into thought patterns which are already prevalent amongst half the inhabitants.
We all know which “half” that’s! It is appalling that lefties all the time suppose conservative patriotism is “my nation, proper or fallacious,” that it by no means qualifies as “love of nation, and we will do higher.” They faux their so-called “vital patriotism” — endlessly obsessing over why America ought to by no means be proud — is rather more considerate.
