The Artist as Citizen.(Book Review)

The Artist as Citizen, by Joseph W. Polisi. Amadeus Press, LLC (512 Newark Pompton Tnpk., Pompton Plains, NJ 07444), 2005. 178 pp. $2.95.

Joseph Polisi has served as president of the Juilliard School in New York City for the past two decades. This book is a compilation of selected essays and speeches he presented during those years of dedicated service to one of the leading arts institutions of our country.

The Artist as Citizen contains humorous anecdotes and serious discussions, careful planning statements and assessments of achievement, pep-talks and celebrations. It gives a remarkable overview of the major concerns facing performing artists and arts organizations as they deal with the complex challenges of the new century.

In the "Foreword," Wynton Marsalis states: "This book is a call to action." The author's "Prologue" follows, expanding on his belief that 21st-century artists "must rededicate themselves to a broader professional agenda that reaches beyond what has been expected of them in an earlier time."

The most compelling discussions for readers come within "Culture, the Arts, and Diplomacy" and "American Culture and the Performing Arts." These hard-hitting speeches decry many aspects of our country's off-hand treatment of the arts. For instance, "The federal ...