Nando & The Secretary of the Arts

I have been talking about this for years and finally an ANSWER to my PRAYERS--sort of.

It seems that Quincy Jones also feels the same way as he's started a petition to ask President-Elect Barack Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts.

You see, while many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position and we in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever.

According to Andy at Culturbot.org:

A Secretary of the Arts would further legitimize America’s place in Art History and in the international dialog through the many disciplines of art - a language itself. People yearn for arts & culture and if they don’t, most are missing out on education, exposure, self-expression, & a creative outlet for internal strife versus unconstructive outlets that are too often used in our society.

Let’s put an arts leader in the Cabinet to start measuring up to other governments’ commitments to arts & culture. This will benefit individual artists, arts organizations, the fine art, film & performing arts industries at large, patrons of the arts, society at large, & the international community.

The U.S. is centered around "the corporate" sector and defines success as "who makes the most money"? And in school, at least where I grew up--good old Odessa, Texas--the arts were never really encouraged and if you did show interest--you were not "normal" and so the love of art (and all its forms) withers away.

Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then invite your friends and colleagues to do the same.

Click here to help make a difference.

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