Letter to Karen Pence in Support of the NEA
This is more or less old news, but way back when the Trump administration took the helm, one of the first things that was on the chopping block was the National Endowment for the Arts. Being an arts-minded person (I’m a poet! Yay!), and engaged to a joyful future theater-educator, I decided to write to the new government to appeal to save the government-funded foundation. I chose to direct my letter, as best as possible, to Karen Pence, wife of the Vice President, since she is an art therapist. Below is the letter that I sent.
January 30th, 2017
Dear Karen Pence,
I hope this letter gets to you, or your office, or your intern, or whoever does your paperwork. I couldn’t find any direct address to you on the White House website.
I’ll cut to the chase: I’m just one of the millions of Americans who is against the defunding of the National Endowment of the Arts. Now, this is where probably the set of eyes who is reading this will take this letter, file it away and add a tally to some tabulation that the administration will only possibly give a glance to. And that’s a real shame, Mrs. Pence, because words and arts have power to bring so much change.I’m writing to you particularly because of your background. You are an art therapist. That raised my eyebrows. My fiancé learned a bit about art therapy in her undergraduate Theater education. One day, she brought home a bunch of pastels and oak tags and we drew out our feelings. I don’t draw regularly, but it was so much fun, if not for the drawing and getting our fingers stained with color, then for the freedom and a place to express some of my burdens. To be honest, that’s something that I never had growing up.
Art therapy is an art. And art, actually, is therapy itself. This is important, and can help our nation. The National Endowment for the Arts helps provide art for local communities. And, in fact, a quick word-search caused me to find three grants, totaling $165,000, particularly for art therapy initiatives, just this past fall, from the NEA.
America needs therapy, and it desperately needs art therapy. As I have learned, art inspires. But the inspiration in this country is low. I’m not psych major, but our nation’s despair and division, as played out on television sets nationwide, represents some sort of mental quandary. You know best how art therapy unlocks potential to see beyond the darkness in our immediate lives, and how artistic entertainment can bring joy to any community. So I’m not just writing to ask you to help save the National Endowment for the Arts by petitioning your husband — I’m asking you to actually help run the NEA and to help redirect arts towards more therapy initiatives. Or, just to lessen the blow of removing it entirely. Please, help the first family your husband consider alternatives to removing the entire agency. Please — for artists, and for the sake of the well-being of the American people — stand with us and support the arts.
Thank you for reading my letter. It means so much. I will keep you and your husband in my prayers. It was an inspiration to see you both speak at the March for Life. And thank you for your past contributions to the world, though the service as an art therapist. It is people like you that make the world a better place.
Yours in Christ,
Joseph Jablonski
