Statement of Albert C. Eisenberg on the Arts
October 25 , 2005
Thanks for inviting me to be with you tonight to discuss the arts.
Groucho Marx once asked, "Who are you going to believe, me, or your own two eyes?" Art is truly in the eye of the beholder, but without it, one of the great pillars of civilization would fall. No society, now or long gone has failed to embrace art in its culture.
Art is not just about things we can touch. It's also about ideas, free speech, and personal expression, in all its forms, from the written word to the spoken play, from the loud silence of pantomime to the exuberance of canvas and music. Art has fueled wars, even as it uplifts people and highlights our commonalities. It makes us think, it makes us angry, as well as heroic, proud, and horrified. It makes us gentle, kind, thoughtful, and it expands our minds to new thoughts and perspectives never experienced before.
I've had a lifelong love with the arts, from my earliest days in public school and art school. I've drawn for pleasure all my life. I love to write. As a public official and advocate, I've supported the arts with my votes on the County Board for use permits and site plans, and county programs that included art and gave Arlington something special. I've advocated for the physical arts as chief lobbyist for the American Institute of Architects, where we worked to create better places and spaces, and established a national historic preservation technology center so the artistic elements of our history will remain alive.
I helped preserve native art in lobbying for the National Parks Conservation Association, and secured a funding program aimed at protecting our national treasures. I remember climbing hundreds of feet into the boulders of Canyonlands National Park , and how I stood mesmerized on the cliffs wondering at the tiny paintings of tiny hands left undisturbed for a thousand years on the face of those rocks by the primitive peoples who once dwelled there. Even in their harsh terrain, the people knew the blessing of art in human life, in their tiny corner of the world, as we today respect art's gifts throughout the globe.
In the General Assembly, I've consistently supported the arts with my vote for public or private museums, stately old buildings and theatres and the public parks to keep and value. You can count on my support for the arts and my appreciation for its every expression, whether exalted or low, helping ensure our fundamental responsibility not to control or manage the arts, but rather to accept them for their own sake, to allow their freedom to thrive in all their forms, to help us understand the mind and soul of man, for better or for worse, for all future generations. But mostly, and personally, through my oldest son, an actor, I have grown even closer to the arts in our own family's life, and appreciate more than ever before the great gift that it offers to us all.