Currently Speaking: The Arts as the Tools of Democracy

How do the arts teach us the tools necessary for America to live up to its democratic ideals? Susan Evans McClure, Executive Director of the Vermont Arts Council, and Christopher Wilson, Curator and Chair of the Division of Home and Community Life at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, will explore how efforts to bolster American democracy and civil society throughout history have relied on artistic participation and practice, and how public support of the arts and arts learning is essential to the future of American democracy.