The below statement has been co-authored with input from arts and cultural professionals from seventeen different cultural institutions, under coordination of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. 

Preamble
As artists, arts advocates, and representatives of arts organizations, we share an urgent concern that social and governmental pressures, leading to preemptive institutional compliance with government interests, will erode artistic and intellectual freedom in the United States. 

Arts and cultural institutions funded or overseen by the federal government are grappling with threats to their programmatic independence. While privately-run arts and cultural institutions may not be directly impacted by shifts in policy or the withdrawal of government funding, they face an environment of increasing censorship and retaliatory rhetoric regarding socially or politically engaged content. 

The stakes are high: the arts sector’s commitment to retain programmatic independence and resist pressures of institutional self-censorship in this moment will ensure future generations inherit robust cultural institutions that stimulate the imagination, engender free thinking, and incubate new futures. Speaking out about our values now is essential in enabling our field to withstand authoritarian pressures. The future of our democracy can only be safeguarded when institutions that sustain the free exchange of ideas remain resolute in upholding their own missions—when principle dominates over fear.

However, individual institutions cannot withstand political pressure alone—collective action and mutual support are needed. 

With this in mind, we have drafted a statement based on what we believe is the field’s shared vision for a thriving cultural sphere. Endorsed by individuals as well as institutions, such a statement of values and principles will reaffirm the strength of our cultural institutions, our solidarity, and our commitment to the public to uphold these values in our daily work. 

Standing together is essential in this moment. Please join us and sign this statement and share widely with relevant parties. We welcome signatories from cultural institutions, as well as individual artists, curators, scholars, arts and culture workers, and institutional leaders who comprise the arts and culture sector. 

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Statement of Values and Principles
Arts and culture bring people together. They spark joy, foster belonging, enrich communities, and help us imagine new possibilities. Arts and culture also open space for complexity—for grappling with different perspectives, for hearing what we might rather ignore, and for facing what makes us uncomfortable. Cultural organizations, including art, culture, history, and science museums, as well as libraries, theaters, and dance and performance spaces, make these encounters possible. They are key to the functioning of a democracy, as they promote freedom of expression, encourage critical thinking, and create important opportunities for public discussion and dissent.

To perform this role and serve the public with responsibility and integrity, cultural institutions must maintain autonomy over programming choices, curatorial decisions, and artistic content. They need the freedom to showcase visionary work that inspires, is unexpected, challenges dominant narratives, and questions those in power. Exercising programmatic autonomy is essential to preserving institutional purpose and resilience in the face of ideological pressure. If institutions don’t live up to this mandate, they risk becoming instruments of propaganda and subject to the whims of those temporarily in power.

In offering access to a broad range of artistic and cultural expression, arts and cultural institutions invite us to empathize with the experience of others and ask questions we might not consider otherwise. This brings nuance into polarizing conversations and supports a core value defining an open and free society: the capacity to hold differences.

As contributors to the sphere of art and culture, and as representatives of US art and cultural institutions that create space for art, ideas, innovation, and public engagement, we stand firm in the shared values that make for a robust arts and culture landscape: free expression, active debate, responsibility, and care.

In this spirit, we affirm our commitment to the following:

• We will remain true to our democratic responsibility to act as guardians of artistic freedom and independent thought.

• We affirm the independence of our programming in service to our mission and commit to resisting external pressures, thus assuring our organization’s credibility and cultural authority.

• We will stand with fellow institutions facing political pressure and remain a field united by shared values and principles.

Standing together is essential in this moment. Sign the Statement of Values and Principles using this link.