An Artist’s Guide to the Republican Primaries

by Michael Anthony Farley on April 8, 2016 · 1 comment Resources

Republican Featured image

Just how bad would one of the Republican candidates be for the arts in America? Ahead of the upcoming New York primaries, I decided to find out. It’s looking pretty bleak in the GOP, but at least this race has been as surreal and entertaining as a Ryan Trecartin tribute to Hieronymus Bosch. Below, I’ve researched each of the candidates’ histories and policies on the arts and affordable housing. (See the Democrat version here.) If I’ve missed something, feel free to contribute in the comments, but keep it a little more civil than a Trump rally.

Donald Trump

Trump portrait by Ralph Wolfe Cowan

Ralph Wolfe Cowan, “The Entrepreneur”

On the Arts:

“As president, I would ensure that the National Endowment of the Arts stops funding of this sort It’s not art. It’s absolutely gross, degenerate stuff.”

on Chris Ofili’s controversial work in the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition Sensations.

Of any candidate, Donald Trump has the most hilariously colorful history with the arts.. Even the commissioned portrait above was fraught with conflict. Page Six reports that his collection of French impressionist works are likely knock-offs, while ART News relays that he once rejected an Andy Warhol commission because it wasn’t color coordinated to the lobby of Trump Tower. In 1980, he ordered the destruction of an Art Deco bas relief from a historic building rather than donate it to The Met, who had requested it be preserved. The building was being demolished to make way for one of his real estate developments.

In Trump’s long list of failed business ventures, The Donald once trademarked “Trump Art Collection” in the hopes of some sort of art-related scheme that never got off the ground. Brian Boucher of artnet News reports that the billionaire “gave a measly half-million or so to ‘arts-affiliated organizations’ between 1994 and 2010. So on the arts, he’s pretty much a loser.”

That being said, Trump is the only candidate to have completed (mostly) the Washington Post’s survey on arts, culture, and freedom of speech issues. Typical to Trump’s interview style, many of the questions were altogether skipped and his answers were vague and noncommittal. As he has never held public office, Trump has no voting record for or against arts legislation.

On Housing:

Trump commissioned Warhol to create a "portrait" of Trump Tower, then rejected the paintings when Warhol refused to re-do them color-coordinated to the building's lobby. Talk about artistic integrity!

Trump commissioned Warhol to create a “portrait” of Trump Tower, then rejected the paintings when Warhol refused to re-do them color-coordinated to the building’s lobby. Talk about artistic integrity!

It may seem counter-intuitive, but Donald Trump’s fortune is built on a foundation of federally-subsidized affordable housing in New York. The Donald’s father, Fred Trump, was in the business of building rowhomes and towers in the park for low-income and middle class New Yorkers in the outer boroughs, all funded in part by taxpayer dollars. The younger Trump abandoned that pursuit in favor of ultra-high-end construction. Trump Tower is the godfather of all the luxury investment/pied-a-tierre skyscrapers sprouting all over the city and driving up housing costs for average New Yorkers. That’s to say nothing of Trump-branded properties that screwed over would-be buyers during the recession. Donald Trump is essentially the mascot of gentrification, and in an especially ironic twist, evicted the National Endowment for the Arts from their Washington D.C. offices when he took over the building to convert it to a luxury hotel.

Ted Cruz

I couldn't find a good portrait of Ted Cruz (someone call Jenny Saville!) but Cruz does have this pretty terrible painting of Reagan by conservative artist Steve Penley hanging in his office.

I couldn’t find a good portrait of Ted Cruz (someone call Jenny Saville!) but Cruz does have this pretty terrible painting of Reagan by conservative artist Steve Penley hanging in his office.

On the Arts:

“We need to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts.”

According to PolitiPlatform, Ted Cruz has no documented official policy on arts and culture. A different report includes the troubling quote above and notes that he did not sign a letter of support for increased arts and museum funding and tax protections for charitable donations. Also, 9/11 made Ted Cruz give up on “rock music” and turn to country, because America. He does not have a “thumbs up” from advocacy group Americans for the Arts.

In a surprising twist, Ted Cruz is the only candidate to have an art historian as a Senior Advisor. Victoria C. Gardner Coates has a PHD in art history, and her unlikely career includes both forays into art writing and conservative politics. That’s not indicative of Cruz’s enthusiasm for cultural patrimony. She’s on-board as the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor. Cruz does, however, apparently sing showtunes to help unwind before debates. Good luck getting that horrible mental image out of your head.

On Housing:

Ted Cruz wants to abolish the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency that oversees home ownership, low-income housing assistance, fair housing laws, homelessness, aid for distressed neighborhoods, and housing development. Yep. The one upshot of a Cruz presidency is that American cities would probably go back into 1970s “DROP DEAD” era crisis mode and gentrification would be the least of our worries.

John Kasich

This is Kasich with Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiling a statue of the latter by Ralph Crawford. So this is what it looks like when Republicans support public art?

This is Kasich with Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiling a statue of the latter by Ralph Crawford. So this is what it looks like when Republicans support public art?

On the Arts:

“We did have a very tough budget time, and we’re not out of the woods yet. But we all felt that the arts are critical. I know that there were a lot of people surprised that Republicans in the House and the Senate and the Governor’s Office could actually provide a very strong level of funding for the arts…the most since 1986”.

Surprisingly, John Kasich has been a great governor for the arts in Ohio, repeatedly creating and funding arts and arts education programs. He and his family regularly attend cultural events, and the First Lady of Ohio created the program Spotlight: Featured Artists at the Ohio Governor’s Residence. He even founded a Poet Laureate program for the state.

As a Congressman, however, Kasich was no friend to the arts. He voted to slash funding for the NEA in 1996 to the tune of $96 million and voted against a bill to restore funding in 1998. Despite Kasich’s record of supporting Ohio’s art funding, it’s troubling that a presidential candidate has shown such disregard to national policy.

[Quotes and voting record from Americans for the Arts]

On Housing:

As with most candidates, particularly Republicans, affordable housing and gentrification aren’t talking points for Kasich. But I did dig up a 1998 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities discussing Kasich’s spending plan when he was the House Budget Committee chairman. It’s pretty dense reading, but it points out an important aspect of Kasich’s “moderate” political style. What he pitched as a “freeze” compromise on discretionary spending actually resulted in a horrible reduction in benefits down the line. Basically, he capped spending on housing vouchers at a time when a larger-than-average percentage of those vouchers were up for renewal. This created a budget shortfall that the analysis equated to a loss of housing vouchers for one million low-income households at a point in the 1990s when housing costs and supply were at respective highs and lows for poor Americans. It’s perhaps more troubling that I can’t find any evidence of Kasich ever addressing affordable housing in Ohio as governor.

Click here to see how the Democratic candidates measure up.

Leave a Comment

{ 1 trackback }

Previous post:

Next post: