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The "NEA Four", Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes, were performance artists whose proposed grants from the United States government's National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) were vetoed by John Frohnmayer in June 1990. Grants were overtly vetoed on the basis of subject matter after the artists had successfully passed through a peer review process.

Lead up to the controversy
In 1989 two art pieces drew controversy to the NEA, Andres Serrano’s "Piss Christ" and Robert Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment (which was cancelled at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC due to political pressure.)

The Artists Involved
Karen Finley performance artist.

John Fleck was vetoed for a performance comedy with a toilet prop.

Holly Hughes

Tim Miller

The artists won their case in court in 1993 and were awarded amounts equal to the grant money in question, though the case would make its way to the United States Supreme Court in National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley. In response, the NEA, under pressure from Congress, stopped funding individual artists.

History of the Peer Review Process within the NEA
The NEA has used peer review panels since 1966 (one year after it's inception). At first the first NEA chairperson Roger Stevens did not want to use panels, preferring that staff members review applications. Due to the increase of funds and applications Stevens turned to peer review panels. Nancy Hanks (the next chairperson appointed by Regan in 1969) expanded panels and created a list of three criteria: appointments must be merit based; appointees must serve the panel as individuals, and my not make decisions based on any particular interest group, institution or viewpoint; the panels must be insulated from external pressures. The last criteria became more difficult to enforce as the budget of the NEA grew, and public interest in how the money was spent mounted. In 1979 Report: a Study of the Panel System at the National Endowment for the Arts recommended that the panels be split into a policy panel that reviewed policies within the NEA panel process and a review panel that only made granting decisions. This split panel allowed for more review panelists to be engaged who represent more diverse art practices. In 1979 a House report found that the NEA was failing to establish a coherent system of review and had not established a uniform system of review. In 1981 President Reagan convened a Special Presidential Task Force on the Arts and Humanities to assess the endowment process and it's policies for awarding federal funds for culture. The task force reported that the agencies were basically sound and in need of only minor improvements. The task force also supported the peer review process as fair and able to act effectively. Despite this finding pressure to decentralize NEA funding - funneling it through state and local agencies - mounted during the 80s and into the 90s from both conservative and liberal interest groups. The NEA was also pressured to rely on formulas for arts assessment. Frank Hodsoll (chairperson from 1981-89) and John Frohnmayer (chairperson from 1989 - 92 during the heart of the NEA 4 controversy) both had to fight such political pressure to retain the peer review model as well as their own roles within the NEA. (balfe)

Beginning Bibliography

Texts found through American Bar Association, Commission on College and University Legal Studies through the ABA Fund for Justice and Education http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/intro.html#Site

Alexander, Jane. Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics. New York: Public Affairs, 2000.

Arian, Edward. The Unfulfilled Promise: Public Subsidy of the Arts in America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989.

Balfe, Judith Huggins. Paying the Piper: Causes and Consequences of Art Patronage. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Benedict, Stephen, ed. Public Money & the Muse: Essays on Government Funding for the Arts. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991.

Bezanson, Randall P. "Performing Art: National Endowment For The Arts V. Finley." Federal Communications Law Journal 60.3 (2008): 535-76. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Biddle, Livingston. Our Government and the Arts: A Perspective from the Inside. New York: American Council for the Arts, 1988.

Bolton, Richard, ed. Culture Wars: Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts. New York: New Press, 1992.

Bradford, Gigi, Michael Gary, and Glenn Wallach, editors. The Politics of Culture: Policy Perspectives for Individuals, Institutions, and Communities. New York: The New Press, 2000.

Brenson, Michael. Visionaries and Outcasts: The NEA, Congress, and the Place of the Visual Artist in America. New York: The New Press, 2001.

Buchwalter, Andrew, ed. Culture & Democracy: Social and Ethical Issues in Public Support for the Arts andHumanities. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992.

Bumgarner, Constance M. "Artists In The Classrooms: The Impact And Consequences Of The National Endowment For The Arts'." Arts Education Policy Review 95.4 (1994): 8. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Davies, Cristyn. "Constructing ‘Decency’." Cultural Studies 27.1 (2013): 92-114. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Meyer, Richard. ""Have You Heard the One about the Lesbian Who Goes to the Supreme Court?": Holly Hughes and the Case Against Censorship." Theatre Journal 52.4 (2000): 543-52. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Moen, Matthew C. "Congress And The National Endowment For The Arts: Institutional Patterns And Arts Funding, 1965."Social Science Journal 34.2 (1997): 185. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Nunns, Stephen. "Chapter Five:The Constitutionalization of the American Avant-Garde:Karen Finley and the NEA." Acting Up: Free Speech, Pragmatism, and American Performance in the Late 20th Century. El Paso: LFB Scholarly Pub Llc, 2011. Print.

Schechner, Richard. "Political Realities, the Enemy Within, the NEA, and You." Tdr (1988-) 34.4 (1990): 7. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Schlossman, David A. "Chapter 4: Artists-Activists and Blurring Boundaries-Karen Finely, John Fleck, Holly Hughes, and Tim Miller." Actors and Activists: Politics, Performance, and Exchange among Social Worlds. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Shockley, Gordon E. "Political Environment And Policy Change: The National Endowment For The Arts In The 1990s." Journal Of Arts Management, Law & Society 41.4 (2011): 267-284. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.

Croussos (talk) 13:44, 11 March 2015 (UTC)