The Center for Arts and Public Policy (CAPP), the first interdisciplinary center of this type in the United States, was approved by the Florida Board of Regents in February, 1988. The Center was established to provide the philosophy and structure to link UF's Cultural Plaza (the Harn Museum Art, the Phillips Center for Performing Arts, and the Florida Museum of Natural History) with campus arts programs and other programs that relate to public policy issues thereby bringing the arts into the mainstream of the university community.

The purpose of CAPP is to provide a forum for the discussion and analysis of arts and public policy issues. Such issues may include, but are not limited to, the arts in education, public funding for the arts, the economic impact of the arts, "percentage for arts programs," patronage systems, the health hazards of artists' materials, copyright laws, cultural diplomacy, etc.

The Center is the catalyst for courses in the arts and public policy offered through UF Colleges of Fine Arts; Business; Liberal Arts and Sciences; Law; Design, Construction and Planning; and the Health Sciences Center. Since CAPP was founded, it has originated, sponsored, and co-sponsored a variety of symposia with the College of Fine Arts; College of Law; Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art; Phillips Center for the Performing Arts; the City of Gainesville, Department of Cultural Affairs; the School Board of Alachua County; the Santa Fe Community College Department of Creative Arts and Humanities and the Santa Fe Gallery of Art; and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. These symposia have included "Censorship and Obscenity in the Arts: Public Attitudes/Legal Problems," "Multiculturalism and Political Correctness: Implications for the Arts," "Controversial Public Art: The Legal and Ethical Dimensions," "Art in Public Places: Controversy or Consensus," "Art and Healing," "Culture and the Livability of Communities," "empowering Women through the Arts," "Collaborative Efforts: Art, Science, and the Issue of Bio-Diversity," and the "Health Hazards of the Artists Materials and Environments."

Because the future of the arts is always uncertain and the political winds ever changing, CAPP continually engages in ongoing projects such as exploring the funding of culture in a bottom line-driven society, the ever-present problems of artists' health, and the legal and ethical implications of the arts in academe.

Donald E. McGlothlin, Director