In the Arts: Bill Could Boost Low-Power Radio; Texas Senator Fears NEA ‘Politicization’

Legislation now before Congress could sharply increase the number of noncommercial low-power radio stations, reports The New York Times.

The small stations, which emerged about a decade ago during a brief period of eased federal licensing regulations, must be affiliated with nonprofit groups. Low-power advocates say the congressional measure has a good chance of passing and could double the number of such outlets to more than 1,600 nationwide.

In other arts news:

• Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, issued an open letter asking President Obama to guard against political manipulation of the National Endowment for the Arts, reports the Los Angeles Times. Mr. Cornyn cited online reports about an August teleconference in which the NEA and the White House Office of Public Engagement sought to enlist artists on behalf of the administration’s United We Serve volunteer effort.

• The chairman of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra board ended a trustees’ meeting Tuesday by presenting the organization with a $1-million check, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Richard Simmons made the donation in connection with his family’s $29.5-million gift of 2006, which gives the orchestra $1-million for every $5-million it raises in a current capital campaign.

• The Miami Herald reports that Goodwill South Florida has returned a donated sculpture to the giver after discovering it is worth $500,000. Dennis Pastrana, the charity’s CEO, said keeping the work by the well-known sculptor Sterett-Gittings Kelsey “would be like blackmailing” the donor, an investment firm that wished to remain anonymous.

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