ROBERT REDFORD - STARS FIGHT FOR ARTS CASH

ROBERT REDFORD, RAY star KERRY WASHINGTON and JOHN LEGEND joined supporters of the arts when they urged lawmakers to boost funds for the National Endowment for the Arts on Tuesday (01Apr08). The three stars were on hand to address U.S. politicians during the Arts Advocacy Day in Congress. They urged lawmakers to restore a funding high of $176 million (GBP88 million) handed out in 1992. Congress slashed arts funds in the mid-1990s and even tried to dissolve the NEA, but the agency survived. Speaking to Congress on Tuesday, Redford explained his Sundance Film Festival in Utah was made possible by an NEA grant.