Mark Wunderlich's Blog

March 14, 2017

Catskill, New York

Dear Representative Faso:

I am writing to urge your support for the continued funding of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. These agencies are vital for the health and well-being of the nation’s cultural organizations, and they play a key role in both the national economy and that of our local community.

Our congressional district has many cultural organizations that rely—directly or indirectly through re-granting—on federal support, and those organizations are important contributors to the economic rejuvenation of our evolving upstate economy.  In Greene County where I live, the Thomas Cole House has become a major center for the revitalization of the village of Catskill.  Recent state funding, coupled with years of local support by individuals is turning this birthplace of the Hudson River School of painters into a major tourist destination in the state.  The recent move of the American Dance Institute which has purchased a downtown property that was on the verge of dereliction and which will turn downtown Catskill into a center for contemporary dance is leading the way to an economic revival of a once moribund downtown.  The Stephen Petronio Dance Company recently purchased property near Round Top and will move its headquarters there.  These moves happen incrementally and one success follows another, leading to what I hope will be a cultural and economic renaissance for our local communities and economy.  If federal funds disappear, we will risk destabilizing what promises to be a true revival of Catskill.  

 Sometimes one hears the argument that if people want cultural institutions they should pay for them, as opposed to having institutions be supported by the government; that argument is shortsighted.   The truth is people do pay for them.  Arts funding comes from a variety of sources, primarily from individual contributions from the public.  Private foundations contribute a considerable amount of money for our institutions as well. By far the smallest portion of arts funding comes from our federal agencies, but these funds are a key part of the tripartite support for cultural institutions; they are used to stabilize our organizations and to leverage funds from private sources.  

I urge you to support our local economy and community by supporting the important work of the NEA and NEH.  Our region and our district depend on it.  

 Sincerely,

I’m giving a number of readings and teaching some workshops this spring.  Here’s a rundown:

February 3, Taos, NM.  SOMOS Taos, at the Harwood Museum of Art.  

February 4-6, Taos, NM.  Rilke Seminar and Workshop (sold out).

February 7, Santa Fe, NM.  Muse Times Two Poetry Series. 

February 8, Tucson, AZ.  University of Arizona Poetry Center, Workshop (sold out). 

February 9, Tucson, AZ. Reading at Intermezzo.  

February 12, Las Cruces, NM.  UNM Creative Writing, Reading.  

February 18, Madrid, Spain.  Reading. 

February 25, Saugerties, NY.  Reading.

March 7-28, New York, NY.  92nd Street Y Advanced Poetry Workshop.