WASHINGTON—Once a litmus test for conservative politicians, the National Endowment for the Art's reputation has turned around over the past decade, writes FOX News.

The change is credited in part to a series of non-controversial grants, as contrasted with past eyebrow-raising grants for Robert Mapplethorpe's erotic photography or Andre Serrano's Piss Christ, a 60-by-40 inch photo of a crucifix submerged in the artist's urine.

"There seems to be little or no publicity about shocking grants," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture & Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America and a huge critic of the NEA 10 years ago.

"They seemed to have cleaned up their act," Knight told FOX's Kelley Beaucar Vlahos.

Knight warned FOX that although the NEA is "moving out of the business of funding experimental art" a move he called a "good thing" controversy could easily return under a more liberal leadership.

A decade ago, politicians like Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas), Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) none of whom are in Congress today attacked the NEA, deeming their grants to be a taxpayer burden whose proceeds are not reflective of mainstream American culture.

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) was also an NEA critic 10 years ago. Now, she told FOX, she has a new confidence in the agency, citing higher standards for grant-making and giving particular credit to poet Dana Gioia, the agency's chairman since 2003.

Despite reports of a general calm, there are still parties breathing heavily on all sides.

Myrick might be satisfied, but Armey, who now runs a pro-taxpayer group called FreedomWorks, is not pleased. "It is fiscally irresponsible to continue spending on the NEA," he says, "which robs from the poor to entertain the rich."

Judith Weiner, director of the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations, believes that the NEA's funding shift, from individuals to institutions, has made it even more difficult for artists to find a mainstream audience for their work.

"Would I like to see avant-garde stuff funded? Yeah, I would," she told FOXNews.com. "I would like to see more individual artists funded because they have a heck of a time getting funded and there are very few places to go."

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FOX NEWS: "NEA Reputation Gets Turnaround"