Andrew Beaujon can finally go home, and so can everyone else at the NEA: Flanigan leaves with her to-do list unfinished. At my request she reviews the day's progress. About a third of the list done. But they've decided on a lot of action items, and tomorrow there won't be a pain in the ass [...]

There's a lot of buzz at the National Endowment for the Arts (headquartered in the Old Post Office Pavilion) about Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's (Dem.) decision to cut the state's arts budget. Teacher Margaret Charette, a Poetry Out Loud advocate, testified before the Michigan State Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in defense of the arts budget today, [...]

Leslie Liberato and Maryrose Flanigan of the National Endowment for the Arts are brainstorming marketing strategies for the Poetry Out Loud finals coming up in late April. Their list reads:

Making fliers for teachers
Contacting school groups
Getting stories in the traditional press and reaching out to bloggers
Finding bookstores still in business
Find judge for semifinal slot

One problem: There's [...]

In between bursts of reporting on the National Endowment for the Art's inner workings, Andrew Beaujon decided to eat an average lunch in the Old Post Office Pavilion. His thoughts: The food court is aswarm with students visiting D.C. The NEA's Maryrose Flanigan says tour groups visit the Pavilion because there's good tour-bus access. Onstage, [...]