Yes, Kickstarter raises more money for artists than the NEA. Here’s why that’s not really surprising

Yes, Kickstarter raises more money for artists than the NEA. Here’s why that’s not really surprising: During a session at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Aspen Institute president Walter Isaacson asked Perry Chen, founder of Kickstarter, whether it was true that Kickstarter now funds more arts-related projects than the National Endowment for the Arts.

The crowdfunding site has, Chen told Isaacson, funded over $600 million in arts projects. “And,” said Isaacson, “that might be now more than the federal government spent on the arts in a given year?” adding a bit later that “in some ways… you’ve invented something that does what the NEA used to do and can’t quite do now.