The Living Legacy of W. McNeil Lowry
Vision and Voice
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Preface (Frank Kessel)
- Foreword (Darren Walker)
- Introduction (Frank Kessel)
- W. McNeil Lowry, the Arts and American Society (Stanley Katz)
- PART I The Role and Purposes of Philanthropy
- I.1 The Role of the Foundation in American Society (1958)
- I.2 Another Policy Question (1964)
- PART II The Value(s) of the Arts and Artists in Society
- II.1 The University and the Creative Arts (1961/1962)
- II.2 The Contemporary University: The Arts (1966)
- II.3 The University and the Creative Arts: II (1967)
- II.4 Dedication of the Arena Stage (1961)
- II.5 International Educational and Cultural Exchange: The Role of the Arts and Humanities (1962)
- II.6 Juilliard School Commencement (1964)
- II.7 The Commitment to Culture and the Arts (1963/1964)
- II.8 Art and Intensity (1965)
- II.9 The Arts in Education (1967)
- II.10 Commencement Address: The Minneapolis School of Art (1968)
- II.11 This Moment in the Arts: New Alley Theatre Dedication (1968/1969)
- II.12 Regarding Nina Vance (1968)
- II.13 The Milieu Crisis in the Arts (1969)
- II.14 The Arts and the Society (1974)
- II.15 Art Museums in America: Notes (1974)
- II.16 The Art Museum and Its Responsibilities to Society (1977)
- II.17 The Arts in America: Evolution and Tradition (1976)
- II.18 The Role of the Artist in Education (1978)
- II.19 The Performing Arts and American Society: The Past Twenty Years (1978)
- II.20 The Performing Arts and American Society: Conclusion (1978)
- II.21 Creativity and Maturity: Evolving Institutional Forms (1985)
- II.22 The State of Governance in the Arts (1990)
- II.23 From Patron to President: The View from Inside (1990)
- PART III The Arts, Philanthropy, and Public Policy
- III.1 Patronage of the Arts: The United States (1960)
- III.2 The Economics of the Arts in America (1960)
- III.3 The Arts and Philanthropy (1962)
- III.4 The Foundations and the Fine Arts (1963)
- III.5 Opportunities for Philanthropy in the Arts (1967)
- III.6 The Economic Crisis in the Arts: Need for a National Policy (1968)
- III.7 National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, Statement to Congress: Part I: NEH; Part II: NEA (1967)
- III.8 National Endowment for the Humanities: Statement for House Select Subcommittee on Education (1970)
- III.9 National Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities: Congressional Hearings on the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities (1973)
- III.10 The Role of the Foundation in the Arts and Humanities (1969)
- III.11 Toward a Public Policy for the Performing Arts (1976)
- III.12 Patronage of the Arts: The Private Sector (1979)
- III.13 The Arts and Public Policy in the United States: Introduction (1984)
- III.14 The Arts and Public Policy in the United States: Conclusion (1984)
- III.15 American Council for the Arts: Revisiting “The Financing of the Performing Arts” (1987)
- III.16 Brademas Independent Commission on Government and Foundation Funding of the Arts: Address (1990)
- III.17 Brademas Independent Commission on Government and Foundation Funding of the Arts: Seven Questions (1990)
- PART IV The Ford Foundation Humanities and Arts Program
- IV.1 Program of Philanthropic Support of Cultural Affairs through Institutions in the Humanities and Creative Arts (1955–1956)
- IV.2 Arts Program Evaluation, Objectives, and Policies (1961)
- IV.3 The Ford Foundation and the Creative Arts (1962)
- IV.4 Ford Foundation Strategy in the Arts: Review—Objectives of the Ford Foundation (1968)
- IV.5 Recommendations: Issues, Ideas, Program Areas (1972)
- Appendix
- 1. “W. McNeil Lowry” ( Lincoln Kirstein)
- 2. “They Broke the Mold” ( Peter Zeisler)
- Selective Bibliography
- About the Contributors
- Index
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lowry, W. McNeil (Wilson McNeil), 1913–1993, author. |
Kessel, Frank S., editor.
Title: The living legacy of W. McNeil Lowry: vision and voice/
edited by Frank Kessel.
Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2020.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019046331 (print) | LCCN 2019046332 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-4331-6965-6 (hardback: alk. paper) | ISBN 978-1-4331-6966-3 (ebook pdf)
ISBN 978-1-4331-6967-0 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-4331-6968-7 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Ford Foundation—Art patronage. | Art and society—United
States. | Art and state—United States. | Art patronage—United States.
Classification: LCC N72.S6 L695 2020 (print) | LCC N72.S6 (ebook) |
DDC 707.9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046331
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046332
DOI 10.3726/b15649
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.
© 2020 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
About the author
FRANK KESSEL is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico. His previous affiliations include the Social Science Research Council in New York, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the University of Houston. Kessel’s Ph.D. is from the University of Minnesota and his M.A. from the University of Cape Town. His commitment to facilitating conversations across international and disciplinary boundaries—including between the social sciences and the humanities, and between research and policy/practice—is reflected in the many conferences and symposia he has organized and volumes he has edited. Kessel is an elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.
About the book
This carefully curated collection of the writings and speeches of W. McNeil (Mac) Lowry will provide significant information about and insight into a remarkable period in the second half of the twentieth century, when the foundations of the arts as they now exist in the United States were creatively and firmly laid, primarily through Lowry’s penetrating intellectual perspective and his strategic organizational acumen as Director of The Ford Foundation’s unique Program in Humanities and the Arts. And many of the fundamental issues he raised and analyzed—why the arts should be valued and how they are best supported and governed—are no less pressing today. The significance of the material is framed and underscored by a foreword by Darren Walker, President of The Ford Foundation; an enlightening essay on “W. McNeil Lowry, the Arts and American Society” by the eminent scholar, Stanley Katz; poetic and powerful tributes to Lowry by Lincoln Kirstein and Peter Zeisler; and a context-setting introduction by the editor. Given the substantive variety and depth of the chapters, the volume will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students, artists and administrators, both within and at the intersection of philanthropy, the arts, society, public policy and history.
“We owe Frank Kessel a great debt for helping us understand W. McNeil (Mac) Lowry’s relentless quest to create a society that understands the centrality of the arts and the humanities. Lowry is one of the unsung heroes of philanthropy whose work has had a profound impact. As this volume proves, Lowry’s visionary leadership helped shape the trajectory of the Ford Foundation’s legacy in the arts and its continued insistence on excellence and innovation.”
—Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
This eBook can be cited
This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.
Contents
Frank Kessel
Darren Walker
Frank Kessel
W. McNeil Lowry, the Arts and American Society
Stanley Katz
part i The Role and Purposes of Philanthropy
I.1 The Role of the Foundation in American Society (1958)
I.2 Another Policy Question (1964)
part ii The Value(s) of the Arts and Artists in Society
II.1 The University and the Creative Arts (1961/1962)
II.2 The Contemporary University: The Arts (1966)
II.3 The University and the Creative Arts: II (1967)
II.4 Dedication of the Arena Stage (1961)
II.5 International Educational and Cultural Exchange: The Role of the Arts and Humanities (1962)
II.6 Juilliard School Commencement (1964)
II.7 The Commitment to Culture and the Arts (1963/1964)
II.9 The Arts in Education (1967)
II.10 Commencement Address: The Minneapolis School of Art (1968)
II.11 This Moment in the Arts: New Alley Theatre Dedication (1968/1969)
II.12 Regarding Nina Vance (1968)
II.13 The Milieu Crisis in the Arts (1969)
II.14 The Arts and the Society (1974)
II.15 Art Museums in America: Notes (1974)
II.16 The Art Museum and Its Responsibilities to Society (1977)
II.17 The Arts in America: Evolution and Tradition (1976)
II.18 The Role of the Artist in Education (1978)
II.19 The Performing Arts and American Society: The Past Twenty Years (1978)
II.20 The Performing Arts and American Society: Conclusion (1978)
II.21 Creativity and Maturity: Evolving Institutional Forms (1985)
II.22 The State of Governance in the Arts (1990)
II.23 From Patron to President: The View from Inside (1990)
part iii The Arts, Philanthropy, and Public Policy
III.1 Patronage of the Arts: The United States (1960)
III.2 The Economics of the Arts in America (1960)
III.3 The Arts and Philanthropy (1962)
III.4 The Foundations and the Fine Arts (1963)
III.5 Opportunities for Philanthropy in the Arts (1967)
III.6 The Economic Crisis in the Arts: Need for a National Policy (1968)
III.10 The Role of the Foundation in the Arts and Humanities (1969)
III.11 Toward a Public Policy for the Performing Arts (1976)
III.12 Patronage of the Arts: The Private Sector (1979)
III.13 The Arts and Public Policy in the United States: Introduction (1984)
III.14 The Arts and Public Policy in the United States: Conclusion (1984)
III.15 American Council for the Arts: Revisiting “The Financing of the Performing Arts” (1987)
part iv The Ford Foundation Humanities and Arts Program
IV.2 Arts Program Evaluation, Objectives, and Policies (1961)
IV.3 The Ford Foundation and the Creative Arts (1962)
IV.4 Ford Foundation Strategy in the Arts: Review—Objectives of the Ford Foundation (1968)
IV.5 Recommendations: Issues, Ideas, Program Areas (1972)
Lincoln Kirstein
Peter Zeisler
Preface
What could be timelier than a range of rich reflections on the meaning and value of the arts in society, and the role of both philanthropic organizations and governmental institutions in fostering and securing the symbiosis of the arts and vital social-community life? And has anyone in the United States ever offered more astute, acute and sustained analyses of such issues and their associated values, and acted on them in a more principled, consequential, and pragmatically effective way than W. McNeil (Mac) Lowry? In essence, this collection of Lowry’s writings and presentations seeks to offer an unabashedly affirmative answer, especially for those who may not be familiar with the history of philanthropic support of the arts in the U.S.A. in the post-World War II era.
As signaled in the Foreword, Introduction, and Stanley Katz’s opening chapter (as well as the excerpts from his nomination for the National Arts Medal, and other material in the Appendix), and as conveyed by many of the primary chapters, Lowry’s most significant efforts were made, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, in the context of the Ford Foundation’s remarkable Program in Humanities and the Arts.
It is, therefore, appropriate to offer these grateful acknowledgements:
←ix | x→• As President of the Ford Foundation, Darren Walker has provided several invaluable forms of support for this project. In so doing, and also in helping to honor Marcia Thompson (see below), he has served to recognize and, indeed, keep alive Mac Lowry’s legacy both within and well beyond the Ford Foundation. Elizabeth Alexander and then Hilary Pennington also provided collegial, and unfailingly patient, support. As did Therese Mai in arranging for permissions to reprint Ford documents that are, in a sense, the core of the collection. And both Joshua Cinelli and Laurence Martinaud always efficiently responded to various non-trivial requests.
• The Rockefeller Archive Center is the primary repository of material related to all aspects of the Ford Foundation’s history, including the Humanities and Arts Program. More important in this context, the Center’s splendid scholarly and professional staff—notably Jack Meyers, Robert Clark, James Smith, Michele Beckerman, Patricia Rosenfield, and Rachel Wimpee—were extraordinarily helpful in enabling me to explore and acquire much of the significant material.1
• The W. McNeil Lowry Papers collection is housed at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) Archive Center (Lowry’s alma mater).2 I am thus grateful to William Maher, University Archivist and Professor of Library Administration, for his thoughtful, rapidly responsive steps to provide permission to include important documents from that source.3
• Joe Karaganis and Mark Leneker at the American Assembly, Columbia University, were invaluably instrumental in facilitating the inclusion of several of Lowry’s most significant contributions.
• Erika Hendrix, Acquisitions Editor at Peter Lang, was not only thoughtfully receptive to the overall idea for such a collection, but steadfastly and, yes, patiently supportive in many ways as the idea took practical shape, all-too-gradually. And both Jackie Pavlovic and Divya Vasudevan devoted almost endless energy and time helping me navigate the perils of the 21st-century production process.
• Colin and Malcolm Lowry, Mac and Elsa’s grandsons, were quietly and consistently encouraging as the project approached completion; and Colin provided the indelible image that we were delighted to place on the front cover.4
• Stanley Katz, a long-time colleague and friend, and a supreme historian and scholar (of philanthropy, the arts, and much else), served as a far-seeing guide into this terrain. As important, he graciously agreed to provide the chapter that, in both analytical and personal terms, frames perennial issues ←x | xi→at the intersection of philanthropy, policy-making and the arts, and underscores Lowry’s singular contribution in deepening the intellectual and programmatic dimensions of that multi-dimensional domain.
• And then there was Marcia Thompson. Where to begin? She was indeed Mac Lowry’s absolutely invaluable “program assistant,” a title that doesn’t begin to capture her unfailingly efficient and effective role in realizing his programmatic vision and plans—a contribution that has been more explicitly recognized, both pleasingly and sadly, since she passed away in mid-2018.
“With little credit or fanfare, she played a central role in promoting the arts and humanities in America,” Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, wrote in an email. “We see Marcia’s legacy every time the curtain rises at New York City Ballet or Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.” Mr. Walker added, “She left an indelible mark on America’s regional theaters and symphony orchestras and promoted the idea of cultural diplomacy—sharing the very best of American culture with the rest of the world.” Stanley N. Katz, the director of the Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, described Ms. Thompson as, “mostly beneath the surface, a sort of godmother to the emergence of the modern nonprofit arts structure.”5
And Marcia safeguarded Lowry’s legacy in at least one highly consequential way—by cataloguing and safely storing for decades a trove of his documents.6 Then, having reluctantly accepted that I was not necessarily the best person to produce a full, undoubtedly warranted Lowry biography,7 she helped draft a proposal for this kind of collection, advocated that idea to Darren Walker, and then, of course, ensured that I had access to that material.8
Details
- Pages
- XX, 502
- Year
- 2020
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781433169663
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781433169670
- ISBN (MOBI)
- 9781433169687
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781433169656
- DOI
- 10.3726/b15649
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2020 (August)
- Published
- New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2020. XX, 502 pp., 1 table.
