The Hatch Act and the Arts

The Washington Post is reporting this morning that Yosi Sergant, a public relations specialist, has resigned from the National Endowment for the Arts after organizing a conference call that seemed to inappropriately recruit artists to create works specifically in support of Obama administration policies. This seems unfortunate for several reasons. First, the whole narrative perpetuates the exhausting and unproductive Glenn-Beck-Versus-the-Obama-administration dynamic that ignited over Van Jones and at this point seems destined never to burn itself out. Second, and more importantly, the debate continues the politicization of the NEA. That politicization has worked in many directions, whether it's complaints that the NEA is supporting inappropriate or obscene work, etc.

But I think it's equally counter to the NEA's mission to try to commission explicitly political work. Some artists make political art. Some don't. The NEA should be giving out grants based on need and merit, and nothing else. I think it's dangerous to tie financial incentives to art's politics and political message, not simply for the government, but for the artistic integrity of the artists seeking the grants. Whether Sergant's actions violated the Hatch Act is one thing. But it also seems like he took a step in the direction of bad artistic policy.