An online petition was sparked by a call from Quincy Jones (above) for the appointment of a US arts minister.
WASHINGTON - NEARLY 220,000 people have signed an online petition asking President Barack Obama to appoint the first-ever United States secretary of the arts.
The online plea, posted in November by New York musician Jaime Austria, is addressed to Mr Obama and reads: 'Your good friend Quincy Jones said, 'Next conversation I have with President Obama is to beg for a secretary of arts.' We the undersigned support Quincy Jones' plea.'
When the petition was first put online after Jones made his plea for a US arts minister in a November radio interview, Austria and a group of art militants were hoping for 10,000 signatures.
'When we reached that, we were going to print out the petition, which the host site would allow us to do for 1 cent per signature,' he said.
The 10,000 signature mark was reached in the first week of last month and quickly surpassed as interest snowballed.
The peak day for signatures was Jan 12, when nearly 20,000 people added their names.
Among names seen on the petition was French singer Vanessa Paradis.
David Amram, composer-in-residence at last year's Democratic Party convention, signed it and left a comment.
'We need this for the future of our country, to give young people the picture that the arts are crucial for everyone to advance their lives by pursuing excellence and developing creativity,' he wrote.
Musician Gordon Gottlieb wrote: 'Look at this as a potential bailout for our collective soul', and writer Lauren Belski said: 'Art is the secret ingredient to a successful society... and economy.'
A study last year by the organisation Americans for the Arts showed the non-profit arts and culture industry in the US generates US$166.2 billion in economic activity annually, US$12.6 billion in federal tax revenues and created 5.7 million full-time jobs.
The economic stimulus package approved by Congress last week includes US$50 million (S$75 million) for the National Endowment for the Arts, the largest annual funder of US arts.
A petition on the same website against appointing a US arts secretary had six signatures last Friday.
