Over two years ago, when the President and the First Lady first arrived here at the White House they were adamant that they wanted the arts to be alive and well here at the People’s House. And they started inviting artists to visit and perform - jazz musicians, then country music stars, classical musicians, Latin singers and dancers, Motown greats and, just yesterday, America’s best poets and spoken word artists.
But it’s not all about artists coming here to play for the First Family. The President and the First Lady believe it’s imperative that the best, the brightest and the most creative should share their talents, their secrets, their successes – their failures - and teach and inspire the next generation, like Elizabeth Alexander, Rita Dove, Billy Collins, Kenny Goldsmith, Alison Knowles, and Aimee Mann did yesterday at an afternoon student poetry workshop in the State Dining Room.
The arts are not just for those who go on to become professional artists. Research shows that girls and boys, young men and women who have art classes are more likely to be engaged in their classes, attend school, achieve better test scores, and graduate. In fact, just last Friday, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities released a stellar report, which details the powerful role that arts education strategies can play in closing the achievement gap, improving student engagement, and building creativity and nurturing innovative thinking skills.
President Barack Obama drops by the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, May 11, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
