On the heels of Arts Advocacy Day, this year's Nancy Hanks Lecturer - Norman Lear - wrote to The Hill about how the arts can help solve our nations problems, both here at home and abroad. He highlights arts and diversity and the power of art in the face of recent events in North Korea.

After an event in the hip hop community which Norman Lear attended (and where he met this year's introducer at the Nancy Hanks Lecture, Hip Hop artist Common), he stated "It was then and there I realized that, to live, Art requires a beholder.  And both require the acceptance and understanding – and the funding – of the spiritual and cultural dynamic that allows us to share our experiences with one another.  This week as art lovers from around the country descend on Washington to speak to their elected officials about the importance of continued funding for the arts, let’s remember that the pluralism that makes our country great is celebrated in the art that we produce."