Forget Tech for a Sec, How Will the Arts Help the Obama Administration?

The Obama campaign mobilized an unprecedented amount of activity from the creative community.  Musicians, actors, comedians, filmmakers, graphic designers, painters, sculptors, and others applied their talents to registering, educating, and engaging voters.  Shepard Fairey, the Obama Girl, Oprah, and Will.i.am were critical to branding an unfamiliar candidate and making us feel connected to him.

While there has been a tremendous amount of discussion about the role of technology and new media in winning the election, and its role going forward in the new Administration, there has been little talk about the role of culture.  Until now.  Yesterday, more than 60 artists and creative organizers engaged in civic participation, community development, education, social justice, activism, and philanthropy came together at the White House for a briefing on arts and social change.  This meeting appears to have been setting the stage for the announcement today of  Rocco Landesman as the Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Instigated in part by Yosi Sergant, the man who promoted Shepard Fairey's "Hope" poster, the purpose of the briefing was to learn about key Obama Administration initiatives and other action campaigns that might be advanced through the engagement of artists.  The goal was to share examples from the field and facilitate the inclusion of dynamic cultural strategies as an integral part of the Administration's agenda for economic recovery, community renewal, and civic engagement.

White House speakers at the event included Tina Tchen, the Director of the Office of Public Engagement (OPE); Mike Strautmanis, Chief of Staff for OPE; Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of OPE; Joseph Reinstein, Deputy Social Secretary for the White House; Rooper Sanders, Assistant Policy Director for Office of the First Lady; and Kareem Dale the point person at OPE who will move the arts and culture agenda for the Obama Administration.

The racially and ethnically diverse participants at the briefing were familiar faces to veterans of both the 2004 and recent presidential campaigns. Ian Inaba, director of the documentary American Black Out and one of the most powerful online videos by a musician (Eminem’s Mosh), was there.  Davey D, The League of Young Voters, Air Traffic Control, Voto Latino, SEIU, and the Hip Hop Caucus “represented”.  Some, like State Voices and the Center for Rural Strategies, are organizers.  Others, such as Active Voice, Provisions Library, and Youth Speaks are producers, aggregators, or curators of art and media.  But all recognize the role of the creative community in making a difference.

As reported by attendees, the meeting was very preliminary – but it is an important first step with far-reaching implications. In convening this discussion, Obama embraces a legacy of Presidential leadership in the cultural space that has:

· Changed policies addressing poverty (Roosevelt's Farm Security Administration photographs).

· Produced thousands of jobs and initiatives that define our nation’s heritage (Roosevelt’s Works Projects Administration which established the Federal Art Project, The Federal Music Project, The Federal Theater Project, The Federal Writers Project and many other New Deal cultural programs).

· Educated and moved millions (President Lyndon Johnson's National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities which include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, NPR, PBS and the Smithsonian Institution).

These Presidential initiatives supported the uniquely powerful voice the arts have in our culture and made the voice of our democracy louder and clearer. 

During the Clinton Administration, we combined culture with nascent technologies to broaden our reach. We produced White House events that were linked nationwide to hundreds of local satellite teleconferences that featured celebrities and artists getting across our message.  At the U.S. Department of Justice, we formed an award-winning partnership between the Department and MTV, with an 800 number answered by celebrity Carson Daley and an interactive conflict resolution CD-Rom with music from Lauren Hill, Back Street Boys and others.  We created youth-focused web sites and held live chats with artists.

The Obama Administration has a tremendous opportunity to take this legacy one step further. The groundswell of creative support coupled successfully with new media technologies could transform public awareness of and citizen engagement in the Administration’s agenda and solve some of our nation’s most pressing issues.  To accomplish this, we must:

1) Create a system to organize a vibrant network of creators, advocates, and distributors of socially-relevant art and media.

2) Strategically use technology and new media to connect these creative resources to nonprofit/grassroots communities around key social issues.

3) Highlight exemplary work, where cultural strategies are effective and truly reach into the deepest, most disaffected parts of our country.

How do we direct a vast amount of diverse, creative activity toward effective action? The Obama Administration  -- with the help of some smart philanthropists and strategists -- is asking the right questions, and has started a dialogue that could unleash the unparalleled creative power of culture to make a real difference.