The President’s Committee bridges the interests of federal agencies and the private sector, supports special projects that increase participation and excellence in the arts and humanities and helps incorporate these disciplines into White House objectives under our Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama.

Photo by Andrea Dylewski
Photo by Andrea Dylewski

The President’s Committee believes that the arts and humanities should be part of the education of every child in America. The PCAH honors organizations and supports initiatives that give young people the opportunity to experience the mastery, discipline and accomplishment that is part of being an artist and scholar.

Photo by Michael JN Bowles
Photo by Michael JN Bowles

International cultural exchange and cooperation in a increasingly interconnected world is more important than ever. By fostering those connections with audiences in the U.S. and abroad, the President’s Committee seeks to share ideas, broaden understanding of the riches of cultural traditions from around the world and expand cooperation to sustain and nurture artists, scholars, performers and institutions.

Video still from Throw Down Your Heart
Video still from Throw Down Your Heart

Arts, humanities and heritage resources and their creative workers are a key to healthy, vibrant communities, increasing their competitiveness as places to live, work and visit. Festivals, galleries, studios, historic sites and buildings and a wealth of other cultural and historic assets are integral to the identity of communities and neighborhoods. The President's Committee focuses its leadership on the value of civic investment in these critical resources.

Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC
Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC

A healthy cultural climate requires dedicated citizens and civic leadership. The President’s Committee embodies that principle as a dynamic link between the public and private sectors, which is used to support activities that recognize distinguished artists and humanists, as well as celebrate the diversity of American culture as a source of strength.

Photo by Tony Brown
Photo by Tony Brown

PCAH SpotlightPCAH Spotlight

PCAH Launches Turnaround: Arts

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities' new arts education initiative will help turn around low-performing schools.Developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council, the Turnaround Arts initiative is a public-private partnership designed to narrow the achievement gap and increase student engagement through the arts. Working in some of the nation’s lowest-performing elementary and middle schools, this program will test the hypothesis that high-quality and integrated arts education boosts academic achievement, motivates student learning and improves school culture in the context of overall school reform. See the PCAH's landmark study  Re-investing in Arts Education: Winning America's Future Through Creative Schools, which provides an in-depth study of arts education and its effect on student success, and is the catalyst for this new effort.  

What's NewWhat's New

Cultural Heritage Tourism Exchange Builds Support for President Obama’s National Travel and Tourism Strategy

In response to President Obama’s January executive order announcing new administrative initiatives to increase travel and tourism in and to the United States, the second Cultural Heritage Tourism Exchange was held May 3- 4, 2012 at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Recognizing that cultural, ... Read More »

PCAH Launches the Turnaround: Arts Initiative to Help Improve Low-Performing Schools

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) announced the launch of a new arts education initiative to help turn around low-performing schools. Developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council, the Turnaround Arts ... Read More »

Save America’s Treasures Instrumental in the Re-Birth of Washington’s Howard Theatre

In 2000, the Howard Theatre became the 500th Official Project of Save America’s Treasures. At the time the Howard Theatre had been dark for twenty years and its rebirth and re-opening were still a dream. Yet by raising the profile of this theater with its White House designation by former First ... Read More »

National Student Poets Program

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) have partnered with the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers to create the National Student Poets Program, the country’s highest honor for youth poets whose ... Read More »

Members BlogMembers Blog

President's Committee Honored with National Award for Arts Education

October 27, 2011 – Margo Lion

On October 17 at their Gala Dinner in New York City, Americans for the Arts (AFTA) honored the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities with the Arts Education Award.  George Stevens, Jr,. Rachel Goslins, Liz Manne, Ken Solomon and Damian Woetzel joined me for the festivities, which also celebrated artists Frank Stella (Lifetime Achievement Award), Jenny Holzer (Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award) and Gabourey Sidibe (Bell Family Foundation Young Artist Award).   Americans for the Arts (AFTA) really knows how to host an event, and this night was no exception. The evening was buzzing with lively conversation about the role of the arts—in education, in strengthening community and in economic development.  Given the enthusiastic response to our landmark report, Re-investing in Arts Education: Winning America's Future, AFTA chose arts education as a major theme for the evening.  It was deeply gratifying to hear echoed again and again the importance of our research and recommendations to those working tirelessly in the trenches.  There was an especially exciting moment when Stephen Jones, ... Read More »

Nurturing Creativity Through Poetry

April 25, 2011 – Olivia Morgan

On April 25, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and 826DC to celebrate young poets. The PCAH, led by committee member Olivia Morgan, help support a three-month series of poetry workshop for DC high school students that culminated in this April 25 event, which she describes in this blog. I’d just spent time in a youth poetry workshop at 826DC, a nonprofit organization that helps students ages 6-18 develop writing skills, as well as train teachers.  After spending two hours at their new facility in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC watching staff  guide a group of underserved kids through poetry writing exercises, I wanted to understand the challenges organizations like these face. I asked, what do you need? Revealing their instinctive focus, Joe Callahan and Mariam Al-Shawaf, the center’s director and deputy, reinterpreted my question. “Attention” they said simultaneously.  “These kids just need attention.” The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities has spent the past 18 months developing a wide-ranging survey on the role of arts in education.  It examines both the ... Read More »

Honorary ChairmanHonorary Chairman

“The arts and humanities define who we are as a people.  That is their power -- to remind us of what we each have to offer, and what we all have in common.  To help us understand our history and imagine our future.  To give us hope in the moments of struggle and to bring us together when nothing else will.”

— First Lady Michelle Obama

About Our MembersAbout Our Members

The President’s Committee’s success in engaging the public and private sectors depends on the expertise and leadership of its private and federal members, who embody and represent the diverse elements of the cultural sector.

Read more about the President's Committee and read the Chairmen's Letter »