U.S. Art Abroad

When it comes to exporting our cultural products and values overseas, the U.S. has a mixed history of successes and failures. An example is the American Center in Paris, a privately funded and managed organization launched in 1931 that promoted American theater, music, dance and other art forms. Unlike the French government's international cultural mission, the U.S. has never supported a large-scale effort to make American culture available to people living elsewhere. Why? One reason is that America expects the private sector to support art making and distribution. Our film studios, record labels, etc. are corporate owners of commercial art - it is their responsibility to export U.S. cultural products and reap the profits that come with them.

The American Center was a popular and trendy spot in the '60s, '70s and '80s. The organization survived for some time using donations, but in the 1990s they made the mistake of relocating to a dramatic, Frank Gehry-designed building in Paris' seldom-visited Bercy district. At a cost of 41 million dollars, the new building depleted all of the American Center's reserves, leaving nothing for programming art events. The hoped for increases in private support never materialized, and the American Center shut down its operation in 1996 and sold the property.