Folklore, art, and Indiana (Address given at the dedication of the renovated Indiana University Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana, January 27, 2000)

In this speech, given at the dedication of the renovated Indiana University Auditorium, I argue that when we celebrate the care that goes into the res toration of a great building, we must remember that bricks and mortar are o nly metaphors for the people and the invisible structures that are the hear t of great institutions. Talk of "heritage" and legacy" must be talk about people of dedication-like IU Chancellor Herman B. Wells or folklorist Stith Thompson-who were unafraid to create new educational possibilities. Likewise, I believe the National Endowment for the Arts can be a catalyst i n the effort to renew and expand our nation's commitment to the arts as a c ore component of learning. For me, the folklorist's vision of the centralit y of art and artists to human experience is the most useful starting point from which to argue the importance of music, drama, dance, and our federal arts agency. Folklore believes that art and art-making are windows into fam ily life, culture, and behavior: communities and individuals use their expr essive capacities to synthesize experience and creativity and to gather up values and traditions for presentation to the outside world. Based on the premise that our expressive lives constitute the basic currenc y of civil society, I outline my goals to 1) make art central to the lives of our young citizens, 2) recognized artists as citizens who make a distinc t and irreplaceable contribution to society, and 3) bring the values, insig hts, and skills of artists to bear on public policy making.