Increase for NEA in Bush budget

In its proposed budget for fiscal year 2006, the Bush Administration has asked Congress to maintain funding levels for the National Endowment for the Arts at $121.2 million. The news took many artworld observers by surprise, since allocations for hundreds of other domestic programs, including education, have been slashed. Bush's budget must be passed by the House and Senate, which typically lower or raise the amount. For fiscal year 2005, the administration requested an increase from $121 million to $139 million, but Congress voted to maintain funding at the 2004 level. The proposed amount for 2006 is still a long way from the endowment's 1992 high of $176 million. Also included in Bush's budget is funding for the Smithsonian Institution and the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Fund, which provides money to Washington, D.C., institutions, since they do not receive state funds.

As a result of the culture wars of the 1990s, most NEA grants now go to state art agencies, which then redistribute funds, instead of directly to artists and institutions; critics contend that innovative and challenging work has largely been sacrificed in favor of "safe" community-based undertakings, as well as national programs such as American Masterpieces and Challenge America (which includes a plethora of Shakespeare-related projects around the country and on military bases). Though the proposed budget reduces the allocation for Challenge America from $21.4 million to $14.9 million, the overall funding for the NEA remains the same.

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