Tony-winning actor Jane Alexander, the former chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, will appear at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts next month to talk about the NEA and the state of the arts in America today.

Alexander was at the helm of the NEA through a particularly politically charged period (1994–1997), and rallied to save the agency in the face of numerous Republican efforts to shut it down.

After a four-year term, and a tireless campaign made up of congressional hearings, media interviews, and tours of the U.S., Alexander resigned in October 1997. With the NEA in danger of funding cuts and elimination by the current administration, Alexander will return to a public forum to respond to the threats and how to move forward.

Read: HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE PROPOSES $5 MILLION CUT TO NEA BUDGET—NOT A TOTAL ELIMINATION

Alexander will appear at the library December 6 at 6 PM. Each question will be composed from quoted statements by Jesse Helms, Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative culture pundits of the 1990s.

Tickets are free and can be reserved here.

Alexander is a Tony winner for her performance in the 1969 production of The Great White Hope. Her other Broadway credits include Honor, The Sisters Rosenweig, The Visit, First Monday in October, and Find Your Way Home, for which she received Tony nominations.

Watch the stars of Broadway come to the defense of the NEA in Playbill’s video campaign: