The Classic Liberal Blog

The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident

For over 14 years, I've been professionally involved in the street-art community, hosting events where artists paint live installations, and producing and promoting national art tours. I've personally known the key players behind the Barack Obama "Hope" posters for many years—one being a former employee of mine, another a former colleague. I'm excited for their accomplishment and sense of pride for participating in Obama's historic presidential campaign. When asked by my former employee to be involved with the Hope poster distribution, I declined on philosophical grounds, but fully appreciated and understood their passions.

But that said, it feels to me, as it did during the campaign, that the art community is not meeting its duty of always questioning those in power. And I say duty because the art community, as a counterpart of the press, has been given special rights written into the Bill of Rights, known broadly as freedom of the press, for the explicit purpose of keeping power in check.

The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion?

On Thursday August 6th, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to attend a conference call scheduled for Monday August 10th hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The call would include “a group of artists, producers, promoters, organizers, influencers, marketers, taste-makers, leaders or just plain cool people to join together and work together to promote a more civically engaged America and celebrate how the arts can be used for a positive change!”

I learned after the conference call that there were approximately 75 people participating, including many well respected street-artists, filmmakers, art galleries, music venues, musicians and music producers, writers, poets, actors, independent media outlets, marketers, and various other professionals from the creative community. I suppose I was invited because of my work in creating arts initiatives, but being a former employer of the NEA’s Director of Communications was probably a factor as well.

White House Using NEA to Push Partisan Agenda

**NEA conference call full audio and transcript here**

Should the National Endowment for the Arts encourage artists to create art on issues being vehemently debated nationally?

The question still requires debate but the facts do not.

The NEA and the White House did encourage a handpicked, pro-Obama arts group to address politically controversial issues under contentious national debate. That fact is irrefutable.

• “I’ve been asked by folks in the White House and folks in the NEA … we had the idea that I would help bring together the artist community…”
• “…the President has a clear arts agenda and has been very supportive of using art and supporting art in creative ways to talk about some issues that we face here in our country, but also to engage people. And I think all of us who are on this phone call, you know, were selected for a reason.”
• “And so I’m hoping that through this group, and the goal of all this, and the goal of this phone call, is through this group we can create a stronger community amongst ourselves to get involved in things we’re passionate about as we did during the campaign. But to continue to get involved in those things, to support some of the President’s initiatives, but also to do things that we are passionate about and to push the President and push his administration…"

ACORN-Tied Buffy Wicks from Obama White House in on NEA Propaganda Art Call

It turns out Buffy Wicks, deputy director of President Obama’s White House Office of Public Engagement, was on the teleconference call.

Wicks is a political operative who was worked with ACORN.

My sources in the progressive movement say Wicks handled the Obama campaign in Missouri last year. Obama lost in Missouri and activists in that state and people within the Obama campaign placed the blame for the defeat squarely on her shoulders.

After failing to win Missouri for Obama, Wicks had a very hard time finding a job but somehow she landed a job in the Obama White House. It’s unclear how she did that.

Wicks used to work for Wake Up Wal-Mart (wakeupwalmart.com), which is not a formal affiliate of ACORN but is an ACORN-sponsored spinoff group. The group works very closely with ACORN and is modeled after ACORN’s own anti-Wal-Mart affiliate W*A*R*N* (Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now).

Can someone say ... Propaganda?