National event underscores importance of grass-roots efforts

In a September 30 Washington Post article, Jacqueline Trescott contended that "President Clinton's familiarity with and admiration of artists and scholars. . .could earn him an honor as the First Impresario," a role that he played with ease in recent ceremonies recognizing the recipients of the National Medal of the Arts and the National Medal of the Humanities.

Having participated only a week earlier in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mississippi Humanities Council, and having known Mississippi's previous medal winners Margaret Walker Alexander, Peggy Prenshaw, and William Ferris, I know first-hand the commitment that ensures Mississippi's reputation for producing creative leaders.

I know the closeness among countless people who volunteer to support the arts and humanities in our state, and I did not expect to find that same sense in Washington. But, as the crowd swelled under a beautifully decorated tent on the South Lawn, the constant introductions and friendliness of those attending struck me as similar to the "friendliness of home." For Southerners, that is an affinity based in place and belief, and it is represented notably by Mississippian Bill Ferris, nominee for the NEH chairmanship.

Through their gracious remarks, both the president and Mrs. Clinton were animated in speaking of the arts and humanities as integral to their lives. The president spoke of the need for support for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities and introduced by name the senators and representatives in attendance.

He spoke of the White House Millennium Project that will encourage grass-roots programming across the United States, and he advocated a national commitment to the arts and humanities in education as he introduced each recipient.

A wide variety of honorees illustrated the accomplishments across the nation. For the arts: sculptor Louise Bourgeois, jazz singer Betty Carter, Metropolitan Museum patron Agnes Gund, architect Daniel Urban Kiley, actress Angela Lansbury, Metropolitan Opera artistic director James Levine, newscaster Robert McNeil for the MacDowell Colony, orchestra leader Tito Puente, actor Jason Robards, dancer Edward Villella, and bluegrass musician Doc Watson.

For the humanities: Minnesota Historical Society director Nina M. Archabal, David A. Berry of the Community Colleges Humanities Association, businessman Richard J. Franke, former president of the University of North Carolina William Friday, musician and founder of Walden Woods Colony Don Henley, writer Maxine Hong Kingston, Chicano studies scholar Luis Leal, University of Chicago religion scholar Martin Marty, philanthropist Paul Mellon, and writer Studs Terkel.

From the president's remarkably personal introduction of each recipient to awardees' informal conversations with guests afterward, the occasion proved that humankind is at the center of the arts and humanities.

I am left with a compelling assurance that Americans dedicated to the arts and humanities are like a Southern family that will, as the president described our obligation, venerate the best of our past, work hard in the present, and hold a vision for the future.

I am honored to have joined in honoring those who symbolize the importance of our assuring opportunities for young people at the community level. They are our vision of the future, a vision incomplete without the arts and humanities.