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Arts Advocacy Day On Capitol Hill

By: Stephanie Kaye // April 13, 2010
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Celeb supporters included Jeff Daniels (right, seated) and Kyle MacLachlan (seated, far left).
Stephanie Kaye
Celeb supporters included Jeff Daniels (right, seated) and Kyle MacLachlan (seated, far left).

The budget for the National Endowment for the Arts was the subject of a hearing on Capitol Hill today, and could affect state and local-level funding for the arts.

Eighty-six arts and cultural organizations convened on the Hill, along with celebrities including actor Kyle MacLachlan... who was there to lend some high-profile support. "I've been impacted by the arts since I was a little kid. I've inadvertently been a poster child for the NEA - and I didn't even know it! So it's time to give some back."

Congressman Jim Moran from Virginia's 8th District drove home the importance of continued state support for the arts, not relying on federal funding. "Those states that think they can cut back on their arts councils and then have the federal government come in and make up for it, that's not going to happen. "

Congress is considering $180 million worth of appropriations for the NEA, which distributes forty percent directly to states.

Stephanie Kaye reports...

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