In the United States, culture and art have long gone hand in hand. As American culture can be thought of as our national persona, American art generally follows as an expression of that character. In the past, culture was the driver of art. Today, however, art often seems to be driving culture–perhaps into the ground. And though culture and the arts once seemed organic, they now appear to be less natural, more contrived, and even a tool for social manipulation. American culture’s three core principles are found in the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence. Equality is established in “that all men are created equal.” Freedom is recognized with all men being “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” And self-government is secured as “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Our country’s founders were great thinkers. They understood the …