Cultural Freedom Demands Collective Courage.

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.

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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. 

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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.    

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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.

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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.