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By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 2, 1999; Page C2

Confident that they are no longer under the direct fire of conservative critics, officials at the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities are asking for more money to support mainstream projects.

In the president's request for fiscal 2000, submitted to Congress yesterday, the arts endowment was slated to receive $150 million, an increase of $52 million over its current budget.

NEA Chairman Bill Ivey said the additional money would underwrite a new initiative, "Challenge America," to encourage partnerships designed to address such community issues as arts education.

Ivey said the agency's optimism was based on improved relationships with members of Congress. "The NEA has been very responsive to Congress in making some changes in our operations that address congressional concerns," Ivey said yesterday.

In response to criticism that it was giving most of its grants to New York and California, the agency last year started Arts Reach, an effort to bring arts programs to places that are not cultural centers.

The humanities endowment also would get an increase of $40.7 million in the proposed budget. In fiscal 1999, the NEH received $110.7 million.

NEH officials plan to use the money to increase access to humanities materials, especially electronically.

William R. Ferris, the NEH chairman, said he wanted to revitalize the agency's support of institutes for teachers, an area crippled by the budget cuts of the early 1990s. He also wants to establish regional humanities centers and start a three-year archaeology initiative.

"This year's budget request will enable NEH to strengthen its core programs . . . and add significant new programs tailored to meet the growing needs of humanities organizations," he said.

In 1998, the endowments didn't run into organized opposition on the Hill and got about the same amount they've received for the previous three years.

If the agencies get what they're asking in the proposed budget, they would move closer to the levels they enjoyed before the Republican takeover of Congress in 1995.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the third federal cultural agency, is also asking for a boost for its museum projects of $10.5 million, from $23.4 million in the last budget.

The institute would use $12.6 million for several new programs, one of which would help make museum collections more accessible to schools and the general public.

"Libraries are on the forefront of using new technology to get people the information they want and need. For museums, this is the first federal program specifically designed to make their collections accessible online," said Diane Frankel, the IMLS director.

The Smithsonian Institution, which gets most of its operating budget from the federal government, also received some good news in the president's proposal. The administration asked for the release of $19 million, the last federal installment for the design and construction of the National Museum of the American Indian. The Smithsonian is planning to start construction later in the year.

The total fiscal 2000 request for the Smithsonian was $380 million, which included nearly $48 million for general repairs.

Other cultural programs received slight increases, mainly due to inflation.

The National Gallery of Art was slated for $67.7 million; the Holocaust Memorial Museum, $33.7 million; the Kennedy Center, $20 million; and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, $6 million.