An Artist to Plead for Art

By WILLIAM A. HENRY III

The National Endowment for the Arts commands such a small share of total ) government spending that it does not even appear as a separate item on the short form of the federal budget. But relative to its size, the agency has over the past few years probably consumed more debate time than any other function of government. Ronald Reagan entered office suggesting that government had no business financing or endorsing cultural activity. A dozen years later, the Republicans left the White House having turned the NEA from a sacred cow into a matador's bull -- and having diverted a third of its nominal allocation to potential pork barrel by state arts councils. Even that wasn't enough for Jesse Helms and Patrick Buchanan, who sought to abolish the NEA for purportedly funding obscenity and irreligious bigotry, based on a handful of controversial grants among 100,000 the NEA has given.

Artists and their allies flocked to Bill Clinton's Inaugural expecting him to refurbish the endowment's standing and refill its coffers. Last week he took a major step toward at least the first half of that agenda, naming one of America's most distinguished actresses, Jane Alexander, 53, as the agency's new chairman. Said Clinton: "The endowment's mission of fostering and preserving our nation's cultural heritage is too important to remain mired in the problems of the past. She will be a tireless and articulate spokesperson for the value of bringing art into the lives of all Americans."

Alexander, who will set aside her career to take the job, has been starring on Broadway this season as the eldest of The Sisters Rosensweig, a role that brought her a sixth Tony nomination (she has won a Tony and an Emmy and been nominated for the Oscar four times). Tall and stately, with angular looks that let her play glamorous or plain, she specializes in emotionally austere drama but offstage is fun loving and approachable. She is living proof of the dividends that grants can pay. She vaulted into prominence playing the white girlfriend of black boxer Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope. It opened in 1967 in a Washington production financed by the NEA and went on to Broadway and the movies. Alexander has often worked at NEA-funded institutions since then, as has her husband, director Edwin Sherin.

Alexander would be the first artist of any kind to hold a post customarily given to administrators, and her inexperience at infighting could be a drawback. In star-struck Washington, however, she will bring glamour and credibility to the case for arts funding. Says Jack O'Brien, artistic director for San Diego's Old Globe Theater: "She has a realistic view of what we are up against, she is an eloquent advocate, she is a classy woman -- exactly what Capitol Hill should see." Says Illinois Democrat Sidney Yates, a congressional co-creator of the nea who chairs the subcommittee overseeing it: "She is well known, generally admired for her talents, bright and charming."

Her appointment is no panacea. Clinton is unlikely to expand the endowment. While he campaigned against "content restrictions," his Justice Department has continued to defend a Bush-era ban on grantees who transgress "general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public." Alexander has not spoken out since her name was raised, but is known to oppose content controls. Aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton boosted her. Says a participant: "Mrs. Clinton felt the endowment suffered from misinterpretation, innuendo and lies, that it needed a more visible face."

Alexander's personal credibility is not enough, warns John Frohnmayer, who fought the culture wars until President George Bush ousted him as NEA chief during last year's primaries: "Nobody can do that job alone. The President has to say, 'This is my personal choice, someone I have confidence in and designate to carry out something critically important to my Administration.' "

Representative Philip Crane of Illinois, who called for abolishing the NEA and helped induce the House to cut its allocation, argues that private-sector financing for the arts exceeds $9 billion a year, making the NEA superfluous. Arts organizations reply that every penny is needed and that an NEA grant confers vital legitimacy -- precisely why conservatives have been so fervent about denying money for art that does not meet their mores. Says William Patton, executive director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival: "Being recognized by the NEA is the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

When Alexander went before Yates' subcommittee in 1990, she said, "I find it astonishing that after 25 years we are not celebrating the enormous success of the NEA. Rather, we're put in a position of defending it. The family of art produces ugly babies as well as beautiful ones, but we have to embrace all of that family." After a career embracing that whole family with unflinching honesty, Alexander is ready to put her artistry and income on hold to live up to those words.

With reporting by Julie Johnson/ Washington and Daniel S. Levy/New York