"Deborah Rutter believes living an "artful life" is essential to well-being. The former president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said that means recognizing that everything that makes daily life beautiful - from the music playing in the grocery store to the architecture of the buildings along your commute - exists because of artists. "I have a personal belief that artists hold up a mirror to who we are as human beings and who our society is," Rutter said. "Our artists are telling the story of what's happening today. They are the truth-tellers.""
""The series is really about thinking about how all art and culture is vital, and thinking about a healthy and vibrant democracy, and having conversations with national arts policy leaders around the connection between arts and democracy," Office for the Arts Director Fiona Coffey told the audience. These days, much of Rutter's hope for the arts lies in local communities. Though the state of the arts feels "bleak" amid the federal administration's cuts in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, she said, performing arts organizations and venues of all sizes across the country continue to offer a wide range of opportunities."
Living an artful life contributes to well-being by recognizing the artists who create everyday beauty in music, architecture, and public spaces. Artists reflect human nature and societal conditions and act as truth-tellers by portraying contemporary stories. A program titled Culture in Action connects art and civic vitality through conversations with national arts policy leaders. Local arts organizations and venues of varying sizes continue to offer diverse opportunities despite federal funding cuts. Strengthening local arts ecosystems and supporting community-based cultural activity are crucial to preserving artistic vitality and fostering democratic engagement.
Read at Harvard Gazette
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