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Dispiriting Journey One man's foray into the unlikely blend of arts and Republican politics |
ATW News | 10/20/2004 |
"The performing arts and Republican politics, outside of my family, have been the
most important part of life for a very long time." Gary Cole said to me recently in a
telephone conversation. He continued, rather ruefully, "I never thought it was
untenable to do both." In fact, Cole, the founder of StageDirect, a North Carolina-based company that records
and distributes small, "Fringe" productions Cole, in addition to his artistic activities, served as Oregon fundraising chair for
George W. Bush's 2000 campaign for the president. Senator Gordon H. Smith of Oregon
knew of Cole's dual interests and in April of 2003 recommended that the White House
consider Cole for the Deputy Chairman position at the NEA. In his letter to Dina Powell,
Assistant to the President in the Office of Presidential Personnel, Senator Smith wrote
"[I] believe that Gary would be an extremely valuable addition to the National
Endowment for the Arts." Senator Smith also made sure to highlight Cole's active
involvement in Republican politics as well as his StageDirect affiliation. Smith's letter did the trick: within a week of writing Powell, she responded,
asking that Cole complete an online application necessary for Presidential Personnel. Cole
did so. Senator Smith continued to champion his recommendation, taking time to meet
personally with NEA Chair Dana Gioia about Cole's candidacy and Gioia's plans
for the Endowment. Clearly, Cole's assumption about his vision for arts and the
Republicans was bearing itself out. On May 20, 2003, Cole met with Gioia along with Eileen Mason, the Senior Deputy
Chairman at the Endowment. Subsequent to the meeting, Cole and Mason had lunch together.
During this later meeting, Mason, according to Cole "was encouraging". Cole even
made sure that Mason, Gioia and other members of the Endowment's staff had copies of
StageDirect videos, dropping off two representative titles that day with a note outlining
how he came to include the productions in his company's library. He further indicated
how his decision-making process might fit into the oversight position at the Endowment. Cole's hopes for securing the position of Deputy Chair at the NEA were bolstered
throughout May and June. An email from Elizabeth Hogan (also on staff with White House
Personnel) noted "I am very optimistic about this opportunity for you to serve in the
Administration." On May, 27, Mason wrote Cole saying, "You will bring fine
skills to the position, and I'm certainly looking forward to having you with us." One
might say this was truly another step forward for the arts among Republicans. On this same day, Ann Guthrie Hingston, the Director of the Office of Congressional
& White House Liaison, also wrote to Cole. In her email, she told him "Yes, you
are the candidate of the Chairman and NEA. The White House is processing the form you
completed there. We have another form to prepare and we must update the position
description to make the position - Deputy Chairman for Programs." Hingston's
email indicated that it would take approximately two weeks for White House approval. During this time, Cole continued to plan for his relocation. Emails from Hingston
discussed his start date. Gioia himself wrote confirming that he would see Cole at the
Council meeting in July. The official notification, indicated by Hingston on May 27, came to Cole on June 9 in a
phone conversation. Two days later, a member of the NEA's communications staff called
Cole to discuss a press release that they were drafting announcing his appointment. One
assumes that artists nationwide might have rejoiced had this press release ever
circulated. Imagine a statement announcing Cole's appointment. It might have
highlighted one of StageDirect's titles, David Schmader's Straight, about
the world of conversion therapy, where gays and lesbians are reputedly "cured"
of their homosexuality and made "straight." Or perhaps, Jeff Goode's Poona.
Clearly, by ensuring that these two plays reached a wider audience, Cole had proven
himself to be a rare commodity: a Republican who can separate his view of the arts from
partisan dogma. Unfortunately, the White House and the NEA did not share this opinion. Shortly after
his conversation about the press release, where the staffer mentioned having visited the
StageDirect website, Cole received a call telling him that "something had come
up" with the appointment. The following day, the offer was rescinded with no
explanation. Subsequently, Cole did learn that it was indeed these two titles that had
quashed his appointment. And thus, Cole sadly learned that it is untenable for Republican politics and
the arts to exist side-by-side. Three months after what was to be Cole's start date
with the Endowment, the agency issued a release announcing that a Bush appointee from
Texas, Tony Chauveaux, would be filling the Deputy Position. It's taken Cole a while to come to term with the roller-coaster that he rode from
April through June of last year. In conversations about the process recently, Cole has
expressed dismay at the administration's hasty reversal on its decision. After all,
as he says, "I did say in the interview that StageDirect's purpose was to capture
daring, original theater on video, not Shakespeare or Neil Simon." Even more explicitly, Cole has said "At the end of the interview, Hogan asked me
if there was anything in my background that might embarrass the President. I said that
they should know that I had produced theater for grown-ups and that some of the
StageDirect and CoHo productions had included nudity and profanity, including profanity in
the title. Her response was, "So you're saying that you've produced R-rated material,
but not X?" I replied, "Exactly."" In the past year, Cole has struggled with what to do with his story. His ultimate
decision was to tell a handful of reporters about the process and the Bush
administration's clear signal that any art that might be considered dangerous is not
deserving of the Government's support. Can we countenance an administration that will
staff the National Endowment for the Arts so that our culture is "politically
safe"? As for the bruised Cole, he said recently that he is moving forward with his artistic
life. "I think this fundamentally redoubles my interest and enthusiasm in finding
daring and original new work. It's not going to intimidate me. I think the challenge
for StageDirect is finding the resources for distribution. I am undaunted in my commitment
to the sorts of work....we want to put forward." |