    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [January 9, 1997]
    [Pages 18-23]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Presenting the Arts and Humanities Awards
    January 9, 1997

        Thank you very much. When Hillary said that, I was so hoping that
    there wouldn't be even one loud stage whisper saying, ``I wish he had
    made that choice.'' [Laughter]
        I am so delighted to be here to honor the 1996 recipients of the
    National Medal of the Arts and the Charles Frankel Prize. They are men
    and women whose accomplishments speak to the breadth and depth of our
    creative and intellectual genius.
        I want to begin by thanking Jane Alexander, Sheldon Hackney, Diane
    Frankel, and John Brademas for their energetic and wise leadership in
    promoting the arts and humanities across our country. I thank them for
    what they have done. This cold day is a rather apt metaphor for a lot of
    what they have labored through the last couple of years, and we are all
    in their debt for standing firm.
        I thank the United States Marine Band for being here. I'm always so
    proud of them and the work they do for our country. I thank the
    magnificent Harlem Boys Choir for their wonderful music and for being
    here. All of you who are supporters of the arts who are here, I thank
    you for being here, supporters of the humanities. I see Secretary and
    Mrs. Riley and Congressman Dicks and Congressman Rangel. There may be
    other Members here; I apologize for not introducing you, but for those
    of you in other positions of public responsibility, in particular, I
    thank you for standing up for the arts and humanities.
        Each year this ceremony gives us an opportunity to celebrate the
    extraordinary contributions of individual American artists, writers, and
    thinkers, to reflect on the role of the arts and humanities in our own
    lives and in the life of our great democracy. We are a nation whose

    [[Page 19]]

    strength and greatness are derived from the rich heritage and diversity
    of our people, from the richness of our artistic and intellectual
    traditions. For more than 200 years, our freedom has depended not only
    upon our system of government and the resolve of our people but upon the
    ferment of ideas that shape our public discourse and on the flow of
    creative expression that unites us as a people.
        Today we are on the eve of a new century. The arts and humanities
    are more essential than ever to the endurance of our democratic values
    of tolerance, pluralism, and freedom and to our understanding of where
    we are and where we need to go. At a momentous time in our history like
    this, when so much is happening to change the way we work and live, the
    way we relate to one another, and the way we relate to the rest of the
    world, we cannot fully understand the past nor envision the future we
    need to pursue without the arts and humanities.
        It is, after all, through the arts and humanities that we unleash
    our individual and collective imaginations. And imagination is, in the
    end, the animating force of a democracy committed to constant renewal,
    the force that allows us to conceive of a brighter future and a better
    world, that allows us to overcome new challenges and grave difficulties.
    By imagining a better America and acting to achieve it, we make our
    greatest progress.
        That is why we must sustain our Nation's commitment for the arts and
    humanities to build that bridge to the 21st century I am so committed
    to. We must have our theaters, our orchestras, our dance troupes, our
    exhibits, our lectures, our scholarship. We must have them all to
    strengthen and preserve our culture and instill in our children the
    democratic ideals we claim to cherish. And we must have them so that our
    young people can imagine what their lives might be like if they were
    better. For all the speeches I might give, the children struggling to
    overcome difficult circumstances, simply seeing the powerful example of
    the Harlem Boys Choir is probably more persuasive than any words I could
    ever utter.
        Today the average American spends about 80 cents to support Federal
    funding of the arts and humanities, about as much as it costs to buy a
    can of soda pop in a vending machine. In some places it costs more than
    that. [Laughter] This tiny investment means that from Providence to
    Portland, from Minneapolis to Miami, from Dallas to Des Moines,
    Americans of all walks of life can share in the great artistic and
    intellectual life of our Nation.
        In America, we should all be able to enjoy art, ideas, and culture,
    no matter what our station in life. And our children should be able to
    be exposed to them, no matter what their station in life. For children,
    Federal support of the arts and humanities is particularly critical.
    Think of how often we hear stories about children who, unable to find
    safe outlets for their ideas, their emotions, their enormous physical
    energy, travel instead down the wrong road to destruction and despair.
    But across our Nation, Federal support to the arts and humanities has
    enabled tens of thousands of those children to see their first play,
    their first ballet, their first Monet. What a transforming experience it
    can be when a young person discovers his or her own gifts for music, for
    dance, for painting, for drama, for poetry, photography, or writing.
        One man who knows firsthand about the power of art to change young
    people's lives is the artist who designed the medal that some of our
    honorees will receive today. Bob Graham is one of our Nation's finest
    sculptors. After the Los Angeles riots, he decided to hire inner-city
    gang members as assistants and apprentices in his studio in southern
    California. These young men have recharted their futures and found that
    instead of feeling alienated by society, they are now valued for the
    contributions they are making to society.
        The earlier we start developing these creative impulses for artistic
    and intellectual potential, the better off our children and we will be.
    As Hillary wrote in her book, we know a great deal more today about the
    importance of providing such stimulation for children in the very first
    years of life. We know how important it is for children to hear words,
    listen to stories, develop their imaginations. That's one reason I'm
    challenging all of our people to work with us toward a goal of making
    sure every boy and girl in our country can read a book independently by
    the third grade.
        Perhaps no one has done as much to show the power of the written
    word on children, not to mention on their parents, as Maurice Sendak,
    one of our honorees today. I'm delighted that he will join Hillary
    tomorrow at the Georgetown University Medical Center to read to children
    who are getting their checkups there. And I thank them both to help to
    kick off a national

    [[Page 20]]

    effort to educate Americans about reading even to our very youngest
    children.
        For the better part of this century, the world has looked to the
    United States not simply for military and economic and political
    leadership but for cultural leadership as well. So as we embark upon
    this new century, let us make sure that our Nation remains the cultural
    oasis it is today. I am optimistic about our prospects because of the
    commitment and the dedication of those of you who are gathered here and
    because our Nation is honored and blessed by the artists and thinkers we
    recognize today.
        In an age when words and images and ideas are too often diluted,
    devalued, and distorted, when what we see and hear is routinely reduced
    to catch phrases and instant images, the men and women on this stage
    represent instead the profound, lasting, and transcendent qualities of
    American cultural life.
        Now it gives me great pleasure to present the 1996 National Medal of
    Arts awards and the Charles Frankel Prize. First, the men and women
    being awarded the National Medal of Arts.
        Last month we paid tribute to our first honoree at the Kennedy
    Center, and I'm proud to honor him again. For some 40 years, playwright
    Edward Albee has been a dominate and inspirational figure in American
    theater. His plays offer raw and provocative portrayals of the human
    experience. He has challenged actors, audiences, and fellow writers to
    explore the complexities of our emotions, attitudes, and relationships.
    A native of Washington, DC, he won the Pulitzer Prize three times for
    ``A Delicate Balance,'' ``Seascape,'' and most recently for ``Three Tall
    Women.'' I ask you to join me in congratulating Edward Albee. [Applause]

    [At this point, the President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Albee
    and presented the medal.]

        Audiences from Russia to the Philippines to our own shores have
    experienced firsthand conductor Sarah Caldwell's passion for music and
    her commitment to bring some of our world's most difficult yet beautiful
    operas to the stage. Sarah Caldwell has dedicated her life to promoting
    and introducing opera to new audiences here and around the world. She
    conducted her first opera at Tanglewood in 1947, founded the Boston
    Opera 10 years later, and went on to become the first woman ever to
    conduct the New York Metropolitan Opera. She is truly opera's First
    Lady. And if you will forgive me a small amount of parochialism, she has
    come a long way from our native State of Arkansas--[laughter]--and I am
    very proud of her.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Caldwell and
    presented the medal.]

        A photographer whose work has inspired both peers and casual viewers
    and a teacher whose ideas and methods have influenced university
    curricula, Harry Callahan is a national treasure. More than 50 years
    ago, he discovered the camera's power to capture the sublime and
    seemingly everyday subjects: nature, the city, and people. His subtle,
    contemplative pictures convey an intensely personal vision of the world.
    They have graced photography exhibitions in some of the finest museums
    around the world. A native of Detroit, his work reminds us that there is
    always much more than meets the eye.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Callahan and
    presented the medal.]

        I'm delighted to honor a woman who has spent some four decades
    creating and nurturing one of the leading artistic institutions in our
    Nation's Capital. The Arena Stage is a living legacy of the vision, the
    talent, and the creative energies of Zelda Fichandler. The Arena is one
    of our country's leading regional theaters and under her leadership has
    brought plays such as ``Inherit the Wind,'' ``After the Fall,'' and
    ``The Crucible'' to audiences in Russia, Hong Kong, and Israel. In 1976
    she and the Arena became the first company based outside New York to win
    a Tony.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Fichandler and
    presented the medal.]

        Thank you very much for all you have done.
        Musician, composer, and bandleader Eduardo (Lalo) Guerrero has spent
    a creative life celebrating and exploring his Mexican-American heritage
    in music from mariachis to orchestra pieces. An Arizona native, he began
    his career while still in his teens, composing what later became the
    unofficial anthem of Mexico. In the 60 years since, he has been prolific
    and inspired, composing songs that have topped the charts on both sides
    of the border. In 1980 the Smithsonian Institution named him a national
    folk treasure. And we are honored to honor him today.

    [[Page 21]]

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Guerrero and
    presented the medal.]

        He still has his salsa, you see. [Laughter]
        First, let me say that we are glad to see Lionel Hampton here safe
    and sound. A legendary bandleader, singer, and the first musician to
    make a vibraphone sing and swing, he has been delighting jazz audiences
    for over half a century. Anyone who has ever heard his music knows that
    he is much more than a performer; he is a pioneer. When Louis Armstrong
    invited him to play the vibraphones at a recording session in 1936, he
    realized he had found his calling. He mastered the vibes quickly and
    performed the first jazz vibraphone solo ever recorded. In 1936 he
    joined the Benny Goodman Trio, but soon he formed his own band and over
    the years has nurtured the talents of many jazz leaders, including
    Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington. He is a lion of American music, and
    he still makes the vibraphone sing.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Hampton and
    presented the medal.]

        Dancer, choreographer, and teacher Bella Lewitzky first began
    creating dances in her hometown of Redlands, California, when she was
    just 7 years old. With Lester Horton, she founded the Dance Theater of
    Los Angeles in 1946. Twenty years later, she formed the Lewitzky Dance
    Company, a troupe that has performed to critical acclaim around the
    world. Now in her 80th year, when it would be just as easy to rest upon
    her well-deserved laurels, she is eagerly looking to start new projects,
    and I hope all of you have inspired her here today.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Lewitzky and
    presented the medal.]

        Vera List has touched generations of students, teachers, artists,
    performers, audiences, and artistic institutions across America. For
    more than half a century, she has lent her vision, energy, and resources
    to philanthropic efforts to promote the arts at universities, museums,
    and through artistic endowments. The charitable foundation that she and
    her husband, Albert, created in 1945 helped to underwrite the
    construction of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center more than
    three decades ago. She has sponsored an opera performance for under-
    privileged children, PBS broadcasts highlighting the American artist,
    and many other varied and worthy arts projects. She has done what
    private citizens must do if we are going to bring the arts to all the
    American people, and we thank her for it.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. List and presented
    the medal.]

        We would be hard-pressed to find any American who doesn't recognize
    Robert Redford as one of our Nation's most acclaimed actors, directors,
    and producers. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for ``Ordinary
    People.'' He's won numerous other awards and made wonderful movies. The
    most important thing to me about Robert Redford is that he could have
    been well satisfied to be a movie superstar but instead chose an
    entirely different life, because for years and years and years, he has
    supported and encouraged many young and emerging screenwriters and
    directors through the Sundance Institute in Utah. He's helped to promote
    nontraditional cinema. He's opened the doors for many new artists and
    their films. I can say also, in an area not covered by today's awards,
    he has been a passionate advocate of preserving our natural heritage and
    protecting our environment. And the Vice President and I were honored to
    have him with us at the Grand Canyon a few months ago when we set aside
    1.7 million acres, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in
    southern Utah, a cause that he pressed for for years and years and
    years. It is very important when a person with immense talent,
    resources, and fame tries to give the gift of creativity back to people
    who would otherwise never have a chance to fulfill their own God-given
    abilities. We honor him for that today and thank him.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Redford and
    presented the medal.]

        Throughout a lifetime as an author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak
    has singlehandedly revolutionized children's literature. In works such
    as ``Where the Wild Things Are,'' he has created heroes and adventures
    that have captured the imagination of generations of young readers. His
    books have helped children to explore and resolve their feelings of
    anger, boredom, fear, frustration, and jealousy. Hillary and I read
    ``Where the Wild Things Are'' alone to our daughter scores and scores of
    times. And I can tell you, he helped me to explore my feelings of anger,

    [[Page 22]]

    boredom, fear, frustration, and jealousy. [Laughter] His books have
    become staples of children's libraries and family bookshelves. They will
    always be a beloved part of our national culture, and they have done a
    great deal to help our children find their own imaginations.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Sendak and presented
    the medal.]

        We were having a picture--Mr. Sendak said that, ``This is my first
    grown-up award.'' [Laughter]
        I feel that I should sing about our next honoree--but I won't;
    relax. [Laughter] Stephen Sondheim is one of our Nation's finest
    composers and lyricists. Not only are his words and melodies timeless,
    appealing to all generations, they mirror the history and experiences we
    share as Americans. His work is indelibly etched on our national
    cultural landscape. Who among us can't rattle off some words from ``West
    Side Story,'' ``A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,''
    ``Gypsy,'' ``A Little Night Music,'' or ``Sweeney Todd''? Decade after
    decade, Stephen Sondheim continues to delight audiences here and around
    the world with his treasured lyrics. He has won five Tony Awards, was
    awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1993, received the Kennedy Center Honor
    for Lifetime Achievement in 1993. But he has given us more than we could
    ever give to him.
        Stephen Sondheim.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Sondheim and
    presented the medal.]

        In less than 30 years, the Boys Choir of Harlem has become one of
    the world's finest singing ensembles. The choir gives 100 concerts every
    year and has performed at the White House, the United Nations, and all
    around the world. These accomplishments would be enough to merit a
    medal, but the Boys Choir of Harlem has also changed and saved lives.
    Over the years it has recognized and nurtured the God-given potential of
    thousands of young people whose talents might otherwise have gone
    unnoticed. The 550 boys and girls who attend the Choir Academy of Harlem
    learn much more than how to sing on key and in harmony. They learn that
    through discipline, hard work, and cooperation, anything is possible and
    dreams do come true. I again say they are a powerful, shining symbol to
    all the young people of this country about what they can become if the
    rest of us will just do our part to give them the chance.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated choir director Walter
    Turnbull and presented the medal.]

        I now have the honor of introducing the recipients of the Charles
    Frankel Prize.
        Poet, professor of poems, and activist for poetry Rita Dove helps us
    to find the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of our lives. She has
    used her gift for language, her penetrating insight, and her sensitivity
    to the world around her to mine the richness of the African-American
    experience as well as the experience of everyday living. Winner of the
    Pulitzer Prize in 1987 and recently Poet Laureate of the United States,
    she is considered one of our finest poets, and she truly is a life force
    of poetry.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Dove and presented
    the prize.]

        Best-selling author, historian, and political commentator Doris
    Kearns Goodwin has enriched our understanding and appreciation of the
    people and institutions that have shaped American government, American
    history, and American politics. Her great gift is to tell the story of
    America through rigorous scholarship, engaging prose, and anecdotes and
    details that bring alive major events and political figures. She has
    worked in the White House, taught at Harvard, written books about
    President Johnson, the Kennedys, and the Roosevelts. Her latest work,
    ``No Ordinary Time,'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. And I can tell you
    it made the details of the White House come alive. I actually had the
    book, walking from room to room, imagining what it all looked like all
    those long years ago. In that book alone, she did a great service to the
    United States in helping us to understand our history, our leaders, and
    what this country is really all about.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Goodwin and
    presented the prize.]

        Political philosopher, public servant, builder of civil society
    Daniel Kemmis has dedicated his life to reawakening America's sense of
    community, of citizenship, of working together for the common good. In
    his books and lectures and during his tenure in politics, he has spread

    [[Page 23]]

    the gospel of community involvement and explored the roots and true
    meaning of our democracy. He is a welcome and convincing voice against
    cynicism and social divisiveness. As we look to the next century, with
    ours the strongest, most vibrant democracy in the world but increasingly
    more diverse, the question of whether we will learn to identify
    ourselves in terms of our obligations and our opportunities in the
    larger community, to learn to work together across the lines that divide
    us with mutual respect for the common good is perhaps the greatest
    question facing the American people. Daniel Kemmis has helped to make
    sure we give the right answer.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Kemmis and presented
    the prize.]

        Arturo Madrid is pioneering the field of Latino studies in the
    United States. He's been an advocate for expanding educational
    opportunities for Hispanic students all across America. As professor of
    modern Spanish and Latin American literature and founder of the Tomas
    Rivera Center, the Nation's leading think-tank on Latino issues, he has
    helped Americans discern and appreciate the impact of Hispanic life on
    American culture and literature. An entire generation of Latino
    academics at the Nation's top universities owe some part of their
    success to Arturo Madrid's work. And now as we see Americans of Hispanic
    heritage the fastest growing group of our fellow citizens, the full
    impact of his work is bound to be felt in the future. So we thank him
    for what he has done and for what he has done that will be felt in
    generations yet to come.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Madrid and presented
    the prize.]

        Bill Moyers has received about every award there is in his field,
    quite simply because he has proved himself a giant in broadcast
    journalism. For more than 25 years, he has used the power of television
    to tackle some of the most difficult and complex issues facing our
    Nation, to explore the world of ideas, and to help millions of viewers
    better understand each other and the society in which we live. At a time
    in which the media often is used to truncate, oversimplify, and distort
    ideas in a way that divides rather than enlighten, the work of Bill
    Moyers' life is truly and profoundly important and encouraging. Though
    he is known to most Americans now as a broadcaster, his career has been
    as wide-ranging as his documentaries. He has been a newspaper reporter
    and a publisher, a campaign aide, a Deputy Director for the Peace Corps,
    and when he was still just a child, Presidential Press Secretary to
    President Johnson. Most important to me, he is a living rebuke to
    everybody's preconceptions about Baptist preachers. [Laughter] He is
    truly a 20th century renaissance man.

    [The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Moyers and presented
    the prize.]

        When I gave him the award, he said, ``Now they'll make us pay for
    that one.'' [Laughter]
        Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to join me in giving one more hand
    to every one of these outstanding Americans. They are terrific.
    [Applause] And now, appropriately, our program will close with the Boys
    Choir of Harlem's rendition of ``Amazing Grace.''

    Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. in the Mellon Auditorium at the
    Department of Commerce. In his remarks, he referred to Jane Alexander,
    Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts; Sheldon Hackney, Chairman,
    National Endowment for the Humanities; Diane B. Frankel, Director,
    Institute of Museum Services; and John Brademas, Chairman, President's
    Committee on the Arts and Humanities.