WASHINGTON — Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann joined actor Robert Redford, musician John Legend, actress Kerry Washington and others yesterday in urging a House panel to increase federal funding for the arts next year, after President Bush proposed an 11 percent cut.

Bush's budget proposal for next year calls for the National Endowment for the Arts to receive $128.4 million, down from $144.7 million this year.

But Hannemann and the others, conducting an arts advocacy day, called on Congress to restore the agency's funding to its 1992 level of $176 million.

"Living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the gateway to Asia and the other Pacific island nations, I can tell you firsthand how the culture and arts of our diverse communities are an integral part of our daily lives," Hannemann, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors' committee on tourism, arts, parks, entertainment and sports, told the House Appropriations subcommittee that deals with the Interior Department and other agencies.

Hannemann said arts help maintain economic stability and help the country remain competitive in a global economy.

"Yet the arts are often pushed to the rear of our educational institutions throughout many cities and states," he said. "We need to change our preconceptions that arts are a 'nice to have' and proclaim that the arts are a 'need to have' in our communities."

Hannemann said the nation's mayors have thrown their support behind arts programs, noting that the nonprofit sector of the arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity annually. Governments see an average return of more than $7 in taxes for every dollar they spend supporting the arts, he said.

"There is a need to address arts and culture as a viable and substantial subject of national importance," he said. He urged the subcommittee to recognize the importance of the nonprofit arts industry in the economic and cultural vitality of cities.

Redford said the National Endowment for the Arts has found that its grants generated seven to eight times more money through matching grants, further donations and earned revenue.

"We need to change our thinking from a time when economic development was limited to building a road or a power plant," Redford said. "What's next is investment in the creative economy."

Legend, an award-winning rhythm and blues musician, said the arts allow students to explore the world in a more thoughtful and original way than by reading history or social studies books.

"I think that painting, singing and acting allowed me to learn about history in ways that standard curriculum can't teach. It gave me a broader worldview," Legend said. "It can develop your heart and cultivate your soul, and I think provides us with a better understanding of our humanity."