----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001
09:03
Subject: [Nettime-bold] BUSH ANNOUNCES US
DEPT. OF ART & TECHNOLOGY
US Department of Art &
Technology
Washington,
DC
Press Secretary
For Immediate Release:
November 6, 2001
PRESIDENT BUSH
ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE ORDER
US DEPARTMENT
OF ART & TECHNOLOGY
NEW
ARTIST-BASED INITIATIVE
I take great joy in making
this announcement. It's going to be one of the most important initiatives that
my administration not only discusses, but implements.
This is a collection of some
of the finest America has got to offer -- artists who create with their
hearts, and in turn, have changed the communities in which they live for the
better. This is a great example of the strength and diversity and compassion
of our country.
This is a diverse group, but
who share things in common. They provide more than aesthetic appeal to the
people of our country. They touch and change hearts. And for this,
America is deeply appreciative, particularly in these times of
crisis.
Everyone in this room knows
firsthand that there are still deep needs in society that are confronted by
America's artists who have brought technology into their work. Problems like
cyber-addiction and abandonment, pornographic violence, mental illness, loss
of identity through the mediation of reality, and now, the threat of terrorist
activity across the heartland. We are called by conscience to
respond.
As I said in my inaugural
address, compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government. It is more
than the calling of politicians; it is the calling of artists. It is
artists who turn mean streets into good neighborhoods. It is artists who turn
cold cities into real communities.
It is one of the great goals
of my administration to invigorate the spirit of involvement and cultural
engagement. We will encourage artist-based community programs without changing
their mission. We will help all in their work to change hearts while keeping a
commitment to freedom of expression.
I approach this goal with some
basic principles: Government has important responsibilities to the social
condition and the spiritual growth of the individual. Yet when we see social
needs in America, my administration will look first to artist-based programs,
which have proven their power to transform lives. When artists provide insight
into the cultural impact of emerging new technologies, we will support
them.
As long as there are cultural
needs, artist-based organizations should be able to compete for funding on an
equal basis, and in a manner that does not cause them to sacrifice their
mission. And we will make sure that help goes to large organizations and to
small ones as well. We value large organizations with generations of
experience. We also value community artists, who have only the scars of being
on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Today I am turning these
principles into a legislative agenda. I am sending to Congress a series
of ideas and proposals. Today, in time of war, I want to raise the
priority and profile of these issues within my own administration. I want to
ensure that artists and artist-based organizations will always have a place at
the table in our deliberations.
In a few moments, I will sign
an executive order. This order will create a new government agency, the United
States Department of Art and Technology. The Secretary of this office will
report directly to me and be charged with important responsibilities. He
will oversee our initiatives on this issue. He will make sure our government,
where it works with the arts, is fair and supportive. And he will highlight
artists who have engaged technology in their work and are confronting issues
critical to our understanding of new technologies and their cultural
implications as national models so others can learn from them. For as British
artist Wyndham Lewis articulated so well: "The artist is always engaged
in writing a detailed history of the future because he is the only person
aware of the nature of the present."
And now it is my honor to
sign the executive order.
(Applause.)
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