Honestly I find myself wanting to just remove the nation from the equation entirely: Great Art Makes (and Deserves!) Great Art. A tautology, but one whose causality I can wholeheartedly affirm.

re: art, goodness, greatness, nationalism

Nate:

[The National Endowment for the Arts]‘s current slogan is “A Great Nation Deserves Great Art.”

Wince. That imperial bit of provincial pomposity has things exactly backward.

Here’s a new NEA motto: “Great Art Makes a Great Nation.”

After all, that is how it works.