Polisi: Today’s Artists Have To Be Missionaries

Juilliard president Joseph Polisi is celebrating the school’s 100th anniversary. “With the future of art at stake, Polisi says Juilliard’s mission is no longer just to teach talented young people to sing, act, play instruments or dance. ‘In my view they’re responsible for more than getting the notes right or the words right or the steps right. They have to be missionaries for the arts. I can’t find a significant national politician who really will take a major stand for the arts because there’s not much political capital in it and in fact there may be some downside.”