NATIONAL ARTS ENDOWMENT TO GET AN OSCAR

The National Endowment for the Arts will become the first federal agency ever to receive an Academy Award when it receives an Oscar on March 25.

The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted the honorary award to the endowment to mark the NEA’S 20th anniversary. The endowment is an independent federal agency that provides grants to organizations and individuals involved in dance, literature, theater, music, visual arts, media, opera, design and folk arts.

The only institution previously given an Oscar was the Museum of Modern Art’s Film Department, in 1978.

In making the announcement, academy president Gene Allen said: “The National Endowment is a symbol of national concern for the cultural life of our country. It has served as the catalyst for government, corporations, foundations and the public, who in turn have caused the creative energies of the nation to flourish as never before.”

Ironically, the Reagan Administration recently announced proposals for an 11.7% reduction in the endowment’s fiscal 1986 budget. The Administration’s request is for a budget of $144.5 million beginning Oct. 1, down from last year’s congressional appropriation of $163.7 million. Congress has traditionally voted the endowment more money than the Administration has recommended.