President Biden Announces President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Members; Bruce Cohen and Lady Gaga Named Co-Chairs

From a Joint News Release (via IMLS):

Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), an advisory body to the president on cultural policy. These artists, scholars, museums practitioners, and philanthropists will provide recommendations to the president and the heads of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to advance wide-ranging policy objectives in the arts and humanities.

“The reinstitution of PCAH is an exciting moment for the arts and humanities sectors and it is a privilege to be the first public historian and curator serving as its director,” said Tsione Wolde-Michael, executive director of PCAH. “With this group of dedicated leaders and an Executive Order that expands PCAH’s mission, the committee is positioned to do meaningful work that will positively impact the arts, libraries, museums, and public humanities work in communities across the country.”

The committee members are:

• Bruce Cohen, co-chair
• Lady Gaga, co-chair
• Jon Batiste
• Constance M. Carroll
• George Clooney
• Philip J. Deloria
• Angélica Garcia
• Jennifer Garner
• Nora Halpern
• Steve Israel
• Marta Kauffman
• Ricky Kirshner
• Troy Kotsur
• Katie McGrath
• Laura Penn
• Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya
• Arnold Rampersad
• Shonda Rhimes
• Kimberly Richter Shirley
• Horacio Sierra
• Anna Deavere Smith
• Joe Walsh
• Kerry Washington
• Pauline Yu

Additional members of the PCAH represent the heads of key federal agencies and institutions with a role in culture, including NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, IMLS Director Crosby Kemper, and NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo), as well as ex officio members Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie Bunch, National Gallery of Art Director Kaywin Feldman, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts David M. Rubenstein.

Visit imls.gov/pcah for bios and photos of the committee members.

“It is truly the honor of a lifetime to have been appointed to serve as co-chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities by President Biden,” said Bruce Cohen. “As the President has stated, the arts and humanities are the soul of our great nation. Given the qualifications and accomplishments of this group of artists, philanthropists and cultural leaders, including co-chair, Lady Gaga, and executive director, Tsione Wolde-Michael, the committee is poised to play a vital role in advancing the administration’s objectives in these crucially important areas. To quote Tony Kushner from Angels in America, ‘The great work begins.’”

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