Mike Astrue, a former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration who writes poetry under the pen name A. M. Juster, wrote some kinds words about me for First Things magazine in an article titled “Give the National Endowment for the Arts Back to the Public”:
One of President Trump’s best appointments in his first term was Justin Shubow, who revitalized the semi-dormant U.S. Commission on Fine Arts. He provided alternatives to overblown and poorly conceived new monuments for the Washington Mall, and he made significant inroads toward changing the philosophy at the General Services Administration, which builds and renovates federal buildings.
Shubow’s advocacy for more traditional architecture, from classical to Art Deco, brought blistering criticism from defenders of brutalism; both the New York Times and National Public Radio grudgingly called him ‘one of modern architecture’s biggest critics.’ Despite nearly universal opposition to Shubow’s reforms from the nation’s leading architects, a 2020 Harris poll found that 72 percent of the public preferred traditional architecture in federal buildings.
Architecture is only one of the arts, but Shubow, who is reportedly under consideration by the Trump administration for the NEA Chair nomination, would be a compelling advocate for all of them. The battle lines for literature, music, theatre and the fine arts are essentially the same as they are for architecture.