“The NEA is a federal government program to support the arts. I got interested in it because I could both contribute something and have some involvement in government policy. We were just going through a time when the NEA was under siege, for all the wrong reasons.”
A commercial lawyer by training, Stephen W. Porter has twice served as chairman of the Washington, D.C., Chamber of Commerce. He has also provided substantial support to the development of the performing arts in Washington is a longtime member of the board of the National Endowment for the Arts.