Many years ago during a local supervisors race I was tasked with developing a fundraiser for a local candidate. I owned a restaurant at the time and I had just finished rebuilding after a disastrous fire. We had moved the bar from the cellar to a large beautiful upstairs room with a tall open beam ceiling and an outside deck with a view of the ocean. The old cellar bar space, repaired and repainted, was not yet carpeted. My plan was to use it as a space for banquets and special events. That’s when I came up with the idea of an Art In as a fund raiser.

The idea was to spread empty canvas on all the walls and invite local artists to come in, choose a space and paint a picture. The public would be invited in to watch the artists at work and bid on the paintings. At the end of the day the individual paintings would be sold to the highest bidder and the proceeds would go to the candidate we were all supporting. Artists would get free drinks and meals.

The event was a great success. We raised a lot of money and exposure for the candidate. Our candidate won and eventually served four terms from 1979 to 1995.

Here we are today with our country in disarray, authoritarianism on the rise, and the opposition disoriented, divided and disillusioned. Our President calls this dystopian turnaround the Golden Age Of America.

According to economist Paul Krugman (Destroying America’s Brand) “America is no longer a reliable ally to the world’s democracies” and “a nation that can’t be trusted to honor agreements or follow the rule of law has to have monetary as well as political and diplomatic consequences.” He points out several such consequences in his blog—decreased exports of military equipment, decreased tourism, fewer foreign students, higher interest rates if the dollar is no longer trusted.

On the home front the President is using his self-proclaimed “mandate” in an election where he won less than half the popular vote to illegally fire thousands of government employees, dismantle government agencies and consolidate unchecked power in the office of the President. And, like all dictators, he wants control over the arts. The President has taken over the Kennedy Center and plans to take a hands on role in the operations of what was has always been until now a bipartisan venture.

In 1955 at the height of the Cold War, George F. Kennan, one of America’s greatest diplomats, gave an address at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. ‘[I]n the creation of beauty and in the great monumental works of the intellect, and there alone,’ he observed, ‘human beings have been able to find an unfailing bridge between nations, even in the darkest moments of political bitterness and chauvinism and exclusiveness.’ (Nina Khrushcheva, When Art Is All That Remains, Project Syndicate, August 20, 2024)

I’ve borrowed heavily from Nina Khrushcheva’s article referenced above, rearranged and changed for my purposes. Her words are in italics.

Unlike politics, authentic culture never lies. Each country’s unique contribution adds value to the world. Art always matters, but it matters even more when freedom is threatened. Culture is our liberty. It is an escape—a glimpse of the spiritual, if not physical, freedom denied by authoritarian dictators. Through some sort of alchemy, a work of art—be it a painting or sculpture, a symphony or opera, a novel or poem—can reflect the best in us.

Art saves the world every day, in every century, and for every generation. It will be what is left of us when we are gone. As long as people live, some will pursue masterpieces, manifesting the indomitable, creative human spirit that ultimately ensures our survival.

Art cannot prevent tyranny or war, but it can debunk their pretexts. It always fights for a better society, a better humanity and beauty.

If would be dictator Donald Trump had learned the lessons that art has taught about past dictatorships, we might have been spared from the dreadfully dangerous spectacle unfolding before us. Unfortunately he is incapable of appreciating culture and creativity because he views it as a threat, a form of critical public accountability.

Thankfully America still has its artists to pick up the broken pieces of a great country that one man’s wounded ego is hell bent on destroying. Only the artists can fix it.