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Obama Chooses Celebrities for Arts Council
Sarah Jessica Parker © Patrick McMullan Photography
ARTINFO
November 04, 2009
Washington, D.C.—Last July, President Barack Obama raised eyebrows when he hired actor Kal Penn, best known for his role in the stoner-humor Harald and Kumar movies, as a liaison to the arts and Asian-American and Pacific Island communities in the Office of Public Engagement. Now, a year after his election, he’s announced a star-studded lineup for the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, a largely ceremonial group, chaired by First Lady Michelle Obama, that advises the president on cultural issues. Put simply, the committee is made up of politically engaged arts personalities and culturally engaged politicians and businesspeople.
Among the 25 new appointees are several actors, including Edward Norton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, and Alfre Woodard. From the cultural community he also selected cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who played at his inauguration, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, theater director George C. Wolfe, ballet dancer Damian Woetzel, film producer Liz Manne, and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne. There is no creative representative from the world of visual art, though several of the new appointees have worked closely with or served on the boards of arts organizations.
Filling out the committee are a cast of private-sector businesspeople as well as government officials such as Minnesota State Senator Richard J. Cohen and Washington insiders such as philanthropist Teresa Heinz, wife of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.
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modartist
16 days ago
158 comments
And just get by till 2012 when the world will end anywat :))
modartist
16 days ago
158 comments
I agree kingofwhales....Its there be thankful for that and lets hope its not the people that already are rich enough to hire other people to do their work that gets the grants!
hilarybee
16 days ago
4 comments
Oligarchy would imply that the National Arts Council is "a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few." However, it is a council, which is "an assembly of persons summoned or convened for consultation, deliberation, or advice." I think that the people chosen are there to provide advice because of their experience and how much knowlege they have in their respective fields. Not because they are a "dominant class or clique".
kingofwhales
19 days ago
176 comments
I`m happy there is an Arts Council.
Republicans would have dumped it "To save money" or just appointed their rich wives and maybe Drew Carey to fill it out.
Max
20 days ago
10 comments
Why isn't htere a representitive from reality TV?? Isn't that where the world's going to? Obama's an idiot for not appointing a rep for visual arts-- which is where the arts originated. My respect level for this man has dropped dramatically. Good luck in 2010!
morrisrp
20 days ago
4 comments
Even though it would make sense to have a visual arts representative on the council, no visual artists probably donated enough money to Obama's campaign to get appointed to anything, and they don't have the same level of public recognition that stars of stage and screen do to promote political agendas.
klockarsdesign
20 days ago
3148 comments
When rulers are celebrities and celebrities rule, isn't that oligarchy?
jasonmetcalf
21 days ago
106 comments
That's a bummer that there is no representative for visual arts. There are so many talented qualified people that would be able to have a big influence on policy.