Notes on the Presidential Task Force on the Arts and Humanities and President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities

Abstract

Created in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, the Presidential Task Force on the Arts and Humanities produced a series of resolutions including a recommendation leading to the formation of the President's Committee. The Task Force did not question federal funding of the arts or the humanities, but it did suggest encouragement of federal matching grants and increases in private support. The President's Committee began its deliberations where the Task Force ended: the investigation of ways to further private support of the arts and humanities. Among the items on its agenda are the encouragement of community foundations to enter the area of cultural funding; presidential fellowships in the arts and humanities; development of an information system for the collection of data on funding; recognition awards; city pairing and sharing for cultural institutions; and various tax proposals.