Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73
§951 Declaration of findings and purposes
Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 26— - SUPPORT AND SCHOLARSHIP IN HUMANITIES AND ARTS; MUSEUM SERVICES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES › § 951
Summary
Creates a National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities to support and strengthen art and humanities work across the country. It says the arts and humanities belong to everyone, and that while private and local groups lead most work, the federal government should help, add to, and back those efforts. The law explains why federal help is needed: to give people in school and in the public ways to learn and appreciate arts and culture; to protect and share the nation’s cultural heritage; to support artists and the groups that work with them; and to encourage free thought, imagination, and the conditions that let creativity grow. Federal money must be handled carefully, build public trust, and serve the public purposes that Congress sets. The goal is to keep American culture and ideas strong now and for the future.
Full Legal Text
Title 20, §951
Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Congress finds and declares the following:
(1)The arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States.
(2)The encouragement and support of national progress and scholarship in the humanities and the arts, while primarily a matter for private and local initiative, are also appropriate matters of concern to the Federal Government.
(3)An advanced civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone, but must give full value and support to the other great branches of scholarly and cultural activity in order to achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future.
(4)Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.
(5)It is necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to complement, assist, and add to programs for the advancement of the humanities and the arts by local, State, regional, and private agencies and their organizations. In doing so, the Government must be sensitive to the nature of public sponsorship. Public funding of the arts and humanities is subject to the conditions that traditionally govern the use of public money. Such funding should contribute to public support and confidence in the use of taxpayer funds. Public funds provided by the Federal Government must ultimately serve public purposes the Congress defines.
(6)The arts and the humanities reflect the high place accorded by the American people to the nation’s rich cultural heritage and to the fostering of mutual respect for the diverse beliefs and values of all persons and groups.
(7)The practice of art and the study of the humanities require constant dedication and devotion. While no government can call a great artist or scholar into existence, it is necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to help create and sustain not only a climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry but also the material conditions facilitating the release of this creative talent.
(8)The world leadership which has come to the United States cannot rest solely upon superior power, wealth, and technology, but must be solidly founded upon worldwide respect and admiration for the Nation’s high qualities as a leader in the realm of ideas and of the spirit.
(9)Americans should receive in school, background and preparation in the arts and humanities to enable them to recognize and appreciate the aesthetic dimensions of our lives, the diversity of excellence that comprises our cultural heritage, and artistic and scholarly expression.
(10)It is vital to a democracy to honor and preserve its multicultural artistic heritage as well as support new ideas, and therefore it is essential to provide financial assistance to its artists and the organizations that support their work.
(11)To fulfill its educational mission, achieve an orderly continuation of free society, and provide models of excellence to the American people, the Federal Government must transmit the achievement and values of civilization from the past via the present to the future, and make widely available the greatest achievements of art.
(12)In order to implement these findings and purposes, it is desirable to establish a National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1990—Pub. L. 101–512 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to declaration of findings and purposes consisting of pars. (1) to (12) for provisions relating to declaration of purpose consisting of cls. (1) to (9). 1985—Cl. (2). Pub. L. 99–194, § 102(1), struck out “man’s” before “scholarly and cultural activity”. Cl. (3). Pub. L. 99–194, § 102(2), inserted “, and access to the arts and the humanities,” after “form of education” and substituted “people of all backgrounds and wherever located” for “men”. Cls. (8), (9). Pub. L. 99–194, § 102(3)–(5), added cl. (8) and redesignated former cl. (8) as (9). 1984—Cls. (6) to (8). Pub. L. 98–306, § 3, added cl. (6) and redesignated former cls. (6) and (7) as (7) and (8), respectively. 1973—Cl. (7). Pub. L. 93–133 struck out provisions relating to strengthening the responsibilities of the Office of Education with respect to education in the arts and the humanities. 1970—Cl. (2). Pub. L. 91–346 inserted “in order to achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1990 Amendment Pub. L. 101–512, title III, § 318 [title IV, § 403], Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1960, 1977, provided that: “(a) General
Effective Date
.—Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act [probably means section, see
Short Title
of 1990 Amendment note below] and the
Amendments
made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 1990. “(b) Special
Effective Date
.—The
Amendments
made by section 110, 204, and 301 [amending section 960, 967, and 974 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 5, 1990] or October 1, 1990, whichever is earlier.”
Effective Date
of 1973 Amendment Pub. L. 93–133, § 2(b), Oct. 19, 1973, 87 Stat. 465, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subsection (a) [amending this section and section 952 and 954 to 960 of this title and repealing section 962 and 963 of this title] shall be effective on and after July 1, 1973.”
Short Title
of 1990 Amendment Pub. L. 101–512, title III, § 318, Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1960, provided that: “This section [enacting section 954a and 969 of this title, amending this section, section 952, 954, 955, 956, 958, 959, 960, 963, 964, 965, 967, and 974 of this title, and section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, and enacting notes under this section and section 954 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Arts, Humanities, and Museums
Amendments
of 1990’.”
Short Title
of 1985 Amendment Pub. L. 99–194, § 1, Dec. 20, 1985, 99 Stat. 1332, provided that: “This Act [enacting section 177 of title 2, The Congress, amending this section and sections 952 to 955, 956, 957, 958 to 960, 963, 964, 967, 971, 972, and 974 of this title, enacting provisions set out as notes under section 954 and 972 of this title, and amending provisions set out as a note under this section] may be cited as the ‘Arts, Humanities, and Museums
Amendments
of 1985’.”
Short Title
of 1984 Amendment Pub. L. 98–306, § 1, May 31, 1984, 98 Stat. 223, provided that: “This Act [enacting section 955b of this title and section 310 of Title 25, Indians, amending this section and sections 952 to 955, 956, 957, 958 to 960, 962, 963, 964, and 967 of this title, amending provisions set out as a note under this section and repealing provisions set out as notes under section 960 and 967 of this title] may be cited as the ‘National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act
Amendments
of 1983’.”
Short Title
of 1980 Amendment Pub. L. 96–496, § 1, Dec. 4, 1980, 94 Stat. 2583, provided that: “This Act [amending section 952, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958 to 960, 962, 963, 964, 965, 967, 974, and 3473 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Arts and Humanities Act of 1980’.”
Short Title
of 1976 Amendment Pub. L. 94–462, § 1, Oct. 8, 1976, 90 Stat. 1971, provided: “That this Act [enacting sections 961 to 968 of this title, amending section 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 960, and 1867 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 956, 960, and 961 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Arts, Humanities, and Cultural Affairs Act of 1976’.”
Short Title
of 1973 Amendment Pub. L. 93–133, § 1, Oct. 19, 1973, 87 Stat. 461, provided: “That this Act [amending this section and section 351a, 952, 954, 955, 956, 957, and 958 to 960 of this title, repealing section 962 and 963 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 351a of this title] may be cited as the ‘National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
Amendments
of 1973’.”
Short Title
of 1970 Amendment Pub. L. 91–346, § 1, July 20, 1970, 84 Stat. 443, provided: “That this Act [amending this section and section 952, 954, 955, 956, 957, and 958 to 960 of this title, repealing sections 781 to 788 and 790 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 955 of this title and section 781 of this title] may be cited as ‘The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
Amendments
of 1970’.”
Short Title
Pub. L. 89–209, § 1, Sept. 29, 1965, 79 Stat. 845, as renumbered title I, § 1, and amended by Pub. L. 98–306, § 2, May 31, 1984, 98 Stat. 223; renumbered § 1 and amended by Pub. L. 99–194, title I, § 101, Dec. 20, 1985, 99 Stat. 1332, provided that: “This Act [enacting this subchapter, amending sections 784 to 786 of this title, repealing section 789 of this title, and enacting provisions formerly set out as a note under section 785 of this title] may be cited as the ‘National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965’.” Sense of Congress Regarding Purchase of American-Made Equipment and Products Pub. L. 101–512, title III, § 318 [title IV, §§ 401, 402], Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1960, 1977, provided that: “SEC. 401. SENSE OF CONGRESS.“It is the sense of the Congress that a recipient (including a nation, individual, group, or organization) of any form of subsidy, aid, or other Federal assistance under the Acts amended by this Act [probably means this section, see
Short Title
of 1990 Amendment note above] should, in expending that assistance, purchase American-made equipment and products. “SEC. 402. NOTICE.“Any entity that provides a form of subsidy, aid, or other Federal assistance under the Acts amended by this Act shall provide to each recipient of such form of subsidy, aid, or other Federal assistance a notice describing the sense of the Congress stated under section 401.” 1979 White House Conference on the Arts Pub. L. 95–272, title I, §§ 101–109,
May 3, 1978, 92 Stat. 222–224, called for a White House Conference on the Arts to be held no later than Dec. 31, 1979, to help develop a climate in which the arts can flourish and to formulate recommendations relating to the appropriate growth of the arts in all parts of the Nation, established a National Conference Planning Council on the Arts to provide guidance and planning for the Conference, directed the Council to submit a report of the Conference to the President and to the Congress no later than 180 days following the date on which the Conference was called, and provided the Council cease to exist 180 days, unless extended by the President, but in no event to exceed one year, after submission of the report. 1979 White House Conference on the Humanities Pub. L. 95–272, title II, §§ 201–209,
May 3, 1978, 92 Stat. 224–226, called for a White House Conference on the Humanities to be held no later than Dec. 31, 1979, to help develop a climate in which the humanities can flourish and to formulate recommendations relating to the appropriate growth of the humanities in all parts of the Nation, established a National Planning Council on the Humanities to provide guidance and planning for the Conference, directed the Council to submit a report of the Conference to the President and to the Congress no later than 180 days following the date on which the Conference was called, and provided the Council cease to exist 180 days, unless extended by the President, but in no event to exceed one year, after submission of the report.
Executive Documents
Executive Order No. 12275 Ex. Ord. No. 12275, Jan. 16, 1981, 46 F.R. 5857, which established the Design Liaison Council and provided for its membership, functions, etc., was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12379, § 10, Aug. 17, 1982, 47 F.R. 36099, formerly set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
20 U.S.C. § 951
Title 20 — Education
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73