As printed in NAMTA Notes from Jan-Feb Newsletter (National Art Materials Trade Association)

Petition for Secretary of the Arts

Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts.  While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position.  We in the arts, in the schools, and the country as a whole need the arts now more than ever.  Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your  friends and colleagues.

http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html

Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, also addressed this in his “state of the union” speach at the Grammys on February 8th.