2008 Woodie Awards
The story of the famous NEA Four
Maggie Anderson - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: 80 Hours
- Page 1 of 1
Tim Miller rose to national prominence for his part in the "culture wars" of the 1990s. As one of the so-called "NEA Four," Miller and fellow performance artists Karen Finley, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes made headlines in 1990 when their National Endowment for the Arts Solo Performer Fellowships, which had successfully passed the organization's peer-review process, were vetoed by then-NEA Chairman John Frohnmayer. All four artists' work was known for its sexual themes, and each of the artists, save Finley, was gay.
The conservative government of President George H.W. Bush, headed in Congress by Sen. Jesse Helms, had previously criticized the NEA's funding of controversial artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe, known for his homoerotic photographs, and Andres Serrano, whose photograph "Piss Christ" featured Christ on a crucifix, submerged in a glass container filled with the artist's own urine.
The NEA Four appealed the case and won a settlement for an amount equal to the revoked NEA grants.
In the process of the appeal, a lower court had declared unconstitutional a clause requiring the NEA to consider "decency" when selecting artists. The federal government appealed this ruling, and the case eventually went to the Supreme Court, where the NEA's "decency" requirement was affirmed in an 8-1 decision.
Miller said that despite his personal victory, the after-effects of the decency clause and the culture wars in general have cast a cloud over artists attempting to create controversial works.
"I assumed, when I was 19 hitting New York that my government would fund complex speech, speech that tries to make our country wiser," he said.
And this presumption was not always too much to make. The 1990 grant was just the latest of nearly 20 Miller has received from the NEA throughout his career.
"I'm doing what I do today partly because I grew up at a time when our country still valued complex opinions," Miller said. "[For] the first grant I ever got, in 1981, I sent them a video of myself getting the shit kicked out of me by [a dancer dressed as] Ronald Reagan. I wouldn't accept money from the government unless I know it would support my oppositional critique of my country."
- by Maggie Anderson
The conservative government of President George H.W. Bush, headed in Congress by Sen. Jesse Helms, had previously criticized the NEA's funding of controversial artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe, known for his homoerotic photographs, and Andres Serrano, whose photograph "Piss Christ" featured Christ on a crucifix, submerged in a glass container filled with the artist's own urine.
The NEA Four appealed the case and won a settlement for an amount equal to the revoked NEA grants.
In the process of the appeal, a lower court had declared unconstitutional a clause requiring the NEA to consider "decency" when selecting artists. The federal government appealed this ruling, and the case eventually went to the Supreme Court, where the NEA's "decency" requirement was affirmed in an 8-1 decision.
Miller said that despite his personal victory, the after-effects of the decency clause and the culture wars in general have cast a cloud over artists attempting to create controversial works.
"I assumed, when I was 19 hitting New York that my government would fund complex speech, speech that tries to make our country wiser," he said.
And this presumption was not always too much to make. The 1990 grant was just the latest of nearly 20 Miller has received from the NEA throughout his career.
"I'm doing what I do today partly because I grew up at a time when our country still valued complex opinions," Miller said. "[For] the first grant I ever got, in 1981, I sent them a video of myself getting the shit kicked out of me by [a dancer dressed as] Ronald Reagan. I wouldn't accept money from the government unless I know it would support my oppositional critique of my country."
- by Maggie Anderson
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Sione Tau
posted 9/05/07 @ 10:43 PM CST
well, i think that miller should fight for his right to continue his passion for the art of theatre.
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