Obama increases federal arts funding

Barack Obama’s budget proposal sees an increase in federal arts spending by 10 per cent, the Los Angeles Times reports. Three federal cultural grant-making agencies as well as the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had seen their budgets cut from a combined $1.51 billion to $1.44 billion last month in a separate bill. Obama's move sees that cut funding restored, together with an extra 4.5 per cent on top.