September 29, 1997

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT ARTS AND HUMANITIES CEREMONY

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release September 29, 1997


REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT ARTS AND HUMANITIES CEREMONY


The Rose Garden


9:45 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Ladies and
gentlemen, welcome to the White House. I thank the members of
Congress for coming, the members of the councils who stood up and
were recognized. I also want to thank the First Lady for that very
nice speech an unusual introduction. (Laughter.)

The spin that was put on my going to the opera at home
was slightly different than the one you heard. (Laughter.) It went
more like, I've been trying to get you do this for five years, now.
I know you will like this if you go. (Laughter.) And besides, it's
Carmen, it's your kind of thing. (Laughter and applause.) And then,
afterward, I said, gosh, I just loved that, and I thought Denise
Graves was great and it was fabulous. And she said, I told you, I
told you, I told you. So I was glad to have the sort of sanitized
version presented to you. (Laughter.) But I thought, in the
interest of openness, I should tell you the whole story. (Laughter.)

Let me again say to all of you, you are very welcome
here in the White House. And let me say a special word of thanks to
two people -- first, to Jane Alexander for her outstanding leadership
of the National Endowment of the Arts. Thank you. (Applause.) And
second, to Sheldon Hackney, who recently left his job as Chairman of
the National Endowment for the Humanities, but who did a wonderful
job for the United States in the position. Thank you. (Applause.)

This morning, we honor 20 men and women and one
organization for extraordinary achievement in arts and humanities.
And in giving these awards, we also applaud the achievements of our
country. We celebrate our capacity for individual expression and
common understanding, and we rejoice in our nation's thriving and
growing diversity. We take pride in the power of imagination that
animates our democracy.

And, above all, by giving these awards we declare to
ourselves and to the world, we are, we always have been and we always
will be a nation of creators and innovators. We are, we always have
been and we always will be a nation supporting our artists and
scholars. It is our heritage, it must be a great gift we give to the
future. (Applause.)

As Hillary said, as we work up to the millennium, we
will be observing it in many ways over the next four years that both
honor our past and encourage our people to imagine the future.
Today, I invite each of you to be partners in that endeavor in the
White House Millennium Program, to help us to make sure the
millennium is marked by a renewed commitment to the arts and
humanities in every community in our nation.


One of the most important goals for the millennium is to
give every child in America access to the universe of knowledge and
ideas by connecting every school and library in our country to the
Internet by the year 2000. Working together with business leaders,

we've made solid progress. And as we work to connect our schools and
libraries we must make sure that once our children can log on to the
Internet they don't get lost there.

So today I'm pleased to announce that on the 27th of
October the National Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership
with MCI and the Council of Great City Schools, will through the
switch on a new educational website called Ed-SITE-ment --
Ed-SITE-ment, not bad -- (laughter). This exciting new tool will
help teachers, students, and their parents to navigate among the
thousands of educational websites, and there are literally tens of
thousands of them now. Most important, it will expand our children's
horizons and instill in them an early appreciation for the culture
and values that will be with them throughout their lives.

President Kennedy once said he looked forward to an
America that raised the standards of artistic achievement and
enlarged cultural opportunities for all citizens. The men and women
we honor today have brought us much close to realizing that vision.
More than 30 years later, at the edge of the new millennium, we must
pledge ourselves anew to meet this challenge.

Now, it gives me great pleasure to present the 1997
National Medal of Arts and National Medal of Humanities Awards.
First, the National Medal of Arts.

Like Martha Graham and Georgia O'Keeffe, Louise
Bourgeois' name is synonymous with innovation, and her life is proof
that creative impulse never fails. In 1981, her retrospective at the
Museum of Modern Art, the first to be devoted to a woman artist,
encompassed 40 years of extraordinary work. Since then, she has
created another lifetime of enduring art, and I have no doubt she has
more to teach us.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jean Louise Bourgeois, the
artist's son, will accept the award on her behalf. Louise Bourgeois.
(Applause.)

Don't worry, I'll report this on my gift form. Thank
you. (Laughter.)

When Betty Carter sings "Baby, It's Cold Outside," it
makes you want to curl up in front of a fire -- even in the
summertime. Performing with the likes of Ray Charles, Dizzy
Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Lionel Hampton, she is truly a goddess
in the pantheon of jazz. Her greatness comes not only from her
unforgettable voice, but from her passionate commitment to helping
young artists develop their own careers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparable Betty Carter.
(Applause.)

We can't celebrate art today without celebrating the
people who help us to experience it. Aggie Gund has spent a lifetime
bringing art into the lives of the American people. With the "Studio
in a School," she forged a new partnership between professional
artists and public schools to introduce children to the joys of
creative expression.

And I might say, that's even more important today. One
of the things that a lot of us who care about our schools are
concerned about are the dwindling opportunities too many of our
children have in the arts of all kinds -- because we know it gives
these children, so many of them, a chance to learn, to grow, to find
positive means of self-expression. If they never become any kind of
artist, the increase in self-understanding, self-control,
self-direction and pure, old-fashioned enjoyment in life is more than
worth the effort. And so we are especially grateful to Aggie Gund.

As president of the Museum of Modern Art, she is helping to usher in
the 21st century of art.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a honor to present her today.
(Applause.)

From the National Mall to the National Gallery, Dan
Kiley has helped to redefine the American landscape. He's one of
those rare artists who join the beauty and variety of nature with the
joy and form of design. In his thought-provoking memorable designs,
building and site come together as one, proving that great landscapes
and great buildings are part of the same vision.

Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Kiley. (Applause.)

It is no mystery -- (laughter) -- why Angela Lansbury
deserves this award. From the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to Broadway
to television, she has created vivid characters we can't forget. For
that work, she has earned three Academy Award Nominations, four Tony
Awards, and 16 Emmy Awards. To that wall of honors we add this one,
for she is her own unforgettable character.

Ladies and gentlemen, Angela Lansbury. (Applause.)

A hush falls in the Metropolitan Opera as the great
chandelier rises and James Levine raises his baton. For 25 years and
1,600 performances of 70 different operas, countless opera goers,
television watchers and radio listeners have shared that experience
and shared in the great gift of his talent. His work has renewed the
grand tradition of opera and infused it with new life for the next
generation of opera lovers.

Ladies and gentlemen, James Levine. (Applause.)

I really admire him. He was up here looking for his
mother. He says, "I know she's out here somewhere." (Laughter.)
Where is she? Good for you. Thank you. (Applause.)

Just hearing Tito Puente's name makes you want to get up
and dance. (Applause.) With his finger on the pulse of the Latin
American musical tradition and his hands on the timbales, he has
probably gotten more people out of their seats and onto the dance
floor than any other living artist. For 50 years now, the
irrepressible joy of his irreplaceable music has won him four Grammy
awards, countless honors and a wide world of fans.

Ladies and gentlemen, Tito Puente. (Applause.)

If anyone has actually given a voice to American
dramatic arts, it is Jason Robards. In the great works of our
greatest playwrights, Eugene O'Neill, Lillian Hellman, Clifford
Odets, Arthur Miller, and in Academy Award performances in great
movies like All The President's Men, he has brought the American
experience to life with characters that animate history and
illuminate the human condition. And every one of us who has ever had
to give a significant number of public speeches has wished at some
moment in his life that he had a voice like Jason Robards. (Laughter
and applause.)

Edward Villella, quite literally, leapt onto the world
stage of ballet and changed it forever with the stunning grace and
muscular athleticism that are his signature style. As principal
dancer with the New York City Ballet, he collaborated with the men
who defined 20th century ballet, George Balanchine and Jerome
Robbins. And as artistic director of the Miami City Ballet, he is
attracting the audience of the 21st century.

Ladies and gentlemen, the remarkable Edward Villella.
(Applause.)


There may not be a serious, committed baby boomer alive
who didn't at some point in his or her youth try to spend a few
minutes at least trying to learn the pick a guitar like Doc Watson.
A guitar virtuoso whose unique style merges many musical traditions,
he started his remarkable career at age 13, armed with a $12 guitar
and a deep love of mountain music. Five Grammy Awards and a lifetime
of achievement later, he still lives in the land his great-great
grandaddy homesteaded, and he's still making that old-time mountain
music.

Ladies and gentlemen, Doc Watson. (Applause.)

For our artists to create the kind of works we're here
to celebrate, they have to have three things: time, space and
inspiration. For nearly half a century, that is what more than 4,500
artists have found at the MacDowell Colony. On this 450-acre farm in
rural New Hampshire, Thornton Wilder wrote "Our Town;" Leonard
Bernstein finished his great "Mass." Today, a new generation of
artists thrives in the atmosphere created by composer Edward
MacDowell and his wife, Marian.

Ladies and gentlemen, the award to the MacDowell Colony
will be accepted by the Chairman of the MacDowell Colony, a man we
all know in other guises, Robert MacNeil. (Applause.)

Now, I have the honor of introducing the recipients of
the National Humanities Medal, men and women who keep the American
memory alive and infuse the future with new ideas.

First, Nina Archibal. To those who know and work with
her, she is a fireball who lets no one stand in the way of her
mission to preserve Minnesota's history. To the state of Minnesota,
she's a bridge-builder between native peoples and other Minnesotans,
helping them share their stories. To America, she exemplifies how
tradition informs everyday life and shapes history. And just this
morning, she told the President that it was high time he high-tailed
it out to Minnesota to see exactly what she was doing. (Laughter.)

Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Nina Archibal. (Applause.)

David Berry and I share a goal -- to strengthen our
nation's two-year community colleges so that more Americans can get
the education they need to succeed in life, no matter how old they
are or where they come from. As professor of history at Essex County
College in Newark, New Jersey, he's broadened the horizons and
expanded the dreams of his students. As director of the Community
College Humanities Association, he's helping two-year colleges all
over the country to do the same.

Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know how many of you have
ever spent any time in these two-year institutions, but they are
exhilarating in the opportunities they offer to people who not so
long ago would never have been able to dream of them. And the fact
that we are bringing the humanities into them and putting them front
and center is a very important part of inspiring the Americans of the
21st century, because more and more of them will find their way to
these remarkable institutions.

Ladies and gentlemen, David Berry. (Applause.)

After a very, very successful career as Chairman and CEO
of an investment banking firm, Richard Franke could well have rested
on his achievements. Instead, he made it his mission to advance the
cause of the humanities in everyday life. Through the Chicago
Humanities Festival he founded in 1989, he's bringing the pleasures
of art and ideas to the people of the great city of Chicago. And his
commitment to the humanities extends to the entire nation.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Richard Franke. (Applause.)


I doubt that there is a more revered force in American
education today than Bill Friday. As president of the University of
North Carolina, he devoted himself to improving education for all
Americans. There is hardly an important educational task force he
has not been a member of. He helped to found the National Humanities
Center. He sat on the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and
The President's Task Force on Education. As Executive Director of
the Kenan Charitable Trust, he continues his life of achievement.

I can tell you that in all the years that I served as
governor and Hillary and I worked to improve education for our
children from kindergarten through higher education, and to change
the horizons of the South in ways that would bring people together
and elevate their conditions, no one was more respected or had more
influence on how we all that and what we tried to do than the
remarkable Bill Friday.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Friday. (Applause.)

I think I should say that our next awardee, Don Henley,
is not in the wrong category. (Laughter.) He has already won so
many awards for his wonderful, wonderful music, he may think that he
doesn't need another. But today, we honor him not for another hit
record, but instead for seven years of relentless effort to protect a
vital part of America's history: the woods that inspired Henry David
Thoreau to write his greatest work, "Walden." Through his support of
the Thoreau Institute, Don is also keeping Thoreau's great legacy
alive for the 21st century.

I've known Don for many years and I told him today right
before we came out here that if I had a nickel for every time he has
hit on me to preserve the woods around Walden Pond, I would indeed be
a wealthy man. (Laughter.) He has done his job to preserve a
profoundly significant part of our legacy as a larger part of his
passionate commitment to preserving our environment and our natural
heritage.

Ladies and gentlemen, Don Henley. (Applause.)

Great writers reveal a world we've never seen but
instantly recognize as authentic. Maxine Hong Kingston is such a
writer. In her groundbreaking book, "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of
Girlhood Among Ghosts," she brought the Asian-American experience to
life for millions of readers and inspired a new generation of writers
to make their own unique voices and experiences heard.

Ladies and gentlemen, Maxine Hong Kingston. (Applause.)

The great chorus of American voices has also been
immeasurably enlarged by the work of Luis Leal. For 50 years he has
told the story of the Chicano people, here in America and all over
the Latin world. In 16 books he has revealed the unique voice of
Latin literature. In 1995, in recognition of his great
contributions, the University of California created the Luis Leal
Endowed Chair in Chicano Studies, the only one of its kind in our
nation.

Ladies and gentlemen, Luis Leal. (Applause.)

As we approach the millennium, many Americans are
examining their own and the nation's spirituality, faith, and the
role of religion in our nation's life. No one has thought more
deeply about these questions than Martin Marty, a renowned scholar of
religious history, the author of 50 books, the director of the Public


Religion Project at the University of Chicago which finds common
ground in our diverse communities of faith.

Among many things to which he is faithful, he is
faithful to his teaching and he told me he is missing class today,
one of the very few times in a very long career of teaching. We have
all been enriched by his work and we thank him for it.

Ladies and gentlemen, Martin Marty. (Applause.)

Paul Mellon has elevated the great tradition of American
philanthropy to an art form. His gifts have immeasurably
strengthened the cultural institutions that are at the very heart of
our civil society, including, of course, The National Gallery here in
Washington. With his sister, he established the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, the nation's largest private funder of the humanities.
And through his exceptional generosity, he has enriched the libraries
of our nation with precious collections of the world's greatest
works.

Ladies and gentlemen, Robert Smith of The National
Gallery of Art will accept the award on behalf of Paul Mellon.
(Applause.)

No one has done more to expand the American library of
voices than Studs Terkel. He has quite literally defined the art of
the oral history, bringing the stories of ordinary people to life in
his unique style, and letting the everyday experiences that deepen
our history speak for themselves. That is why I am very pleased he
has agreed to advise the White House Millennium Program on the best
way to collect family and community histories, a project we will
launch with the NEH this spring.

Ladies and gentlemen, a true American original, Mr.
Studs Terkel. (Applause)

He just thanked me for coordinating the medal with his
trademark shirt, tie and socks. (Laughter.) The rest of our
honorees will just have to abide it. We were trying to get the
wardrobe right. (Laughter.)

Let me again thank all of you for coming and say a
special word of thanks to Senator Pell and to Congressman and Mrs.
Capps, to Congressman Horn, Congresswoman Maloney, Congresswoman
Pelosi, Congressman Serrano and Congressman Burr. And I thank them.
We have talked a lot about all the fights that exist between the
President and Congress over the NEH and the NEA. It's important to
recognize we've got some good supporters there, too. (Applause.)

Let me invite you to enjoy the Marine Orchestra, to
enjoy each other, to enjoy this beautiful day and the rich gifts our
honorees have given us. Thank you very much for coming. (Applause.)

END 10:14 A.M. EDT