People support state funding for the arts to ensure that artists will create worthwhile projects that the marketplace cannot support. They feel that without public subsidies America will only produce commercialized garbage like comic books, sitcoms, and slasher movies designed only for the least common denominator audience. However, an understanding of how art is produced and how subsidies function can change these beliefs.
Commercial artists have created many of the world’s greatest masterpieces (Shakespeare’s plays, Dickens’ novels, and Verdi’s operas) for a popular audience
Private contributions make up the majority of art funding; they could easily take up the slack if public funding was eliminated
Yes, the marketplace often panders to the least common denominator, but the marketplace also produces diverse materials for niche markets. Look through Borders or Ebay, and see a variety of choices
Would you force opera lovers to subsidize monster truck fans? Then why would you force monster truck fans to support the opera?
Government funding means government interference, as private schools and colleges know. The same condition holds true for the arts
