[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 2 (Monday, January 13, 1997)]
[Pages 22-27]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
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
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
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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 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
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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.
[President Clinton 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.
[President Clinton 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.
[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.
[[Page 25]]
[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 to 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 to 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, 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
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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, Steven 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.
Steven Sondheim.
[The President and the First Lady congratu-lated 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.
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 her 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
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 peo
[[Page 27]]
ple. 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 divide 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.