IN WASHINGTON, D.C., the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is announcing a new leader today. Tsione Wolde-Michael has been appointed executive director of the committee.

Engaging with artists, scholars, and cultural heritage leaders, PCAH strives to center the arts, humanities, and museum and library services in the civic and cultural life of the nation and advises the President of the United States on related policies and programs.

A public historian and curator, Wolde-Michael is the youngest individual and first Black person to be named executive director of PCAH. She previously served as founding director of the Center for Restorative History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

 


Executive Director Tsione Wolde-Michael will be working with the chairs of the NEA, NEH, and IMLS, along with 25 new committee members from the private sector. | Photo Courtesy PCAH

 

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities has been dormant since the first year of the Trump Administration. After a five-year hiatus, the committee was reconstituted under a new executive order issued by President Biden in September.

Thinking anew about the committee’s mandate, the two-year order acknowledges contemporary concerns, opportunities, and challenges, emphasizing connections between the arts, humanities, museum and library services and the nation’s cultural heritage, democracy, physical and mental health, economy, education equity, and climate status.

“I’ve spent my career as a public historian launching large-scale projects from the ground up and working to transform understandings of our nation’s past,” Wolde-Michael said in a statement.

“President Biden’s new Executive Order supports telling a fuller, more expansive American story through the arts and humanities; it recognizes that these areas are essential to the vitality of our democracy while centering equity, accessibility, and the inclusion of historically underserved communities in an unprecedented way. I look forward to applying my experience to ensure that the PCAH reflects that strong vision.”

PCAH works in collaboration with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), whose chairs serve on the advisory committee. Wolde-Michael’s position is housed at IMLS. She officially took the helm of PCAH on Nov. 21.

“Tsione’s experience and leadership will be critical to PCAH’s mission of lifting every voice,” IMLS Director Crosby Kemper said in a statement. “The unifying, inspiring and aspirational visions coming from the arts and humanities can be a balm in turbulent times and always bring joy and significance to our daily lives.”

Tsione Wolde-Michael is the youngest individual and first Black person to be named executive director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

IN 2018, WOLDE-MICHAEL joined the National Museum of American History, where she served as the curator of African American Social Justice History and director of the Center for Restorative History. Early on, she developed a methodology for museum practice based on the tenets of restorative justice. The work gained traction, influencing the museum’s acquisitions and programming strategies with an aim toward diversifying its collections and exhibitions.

The Center for Restorative History also grew out of her work, establishing for the first time within the Smithsonian a center focused on community-based redress. Asking the public to consider how the history of the United States is learned, how it gets made, and whose stories are told, the center uses methods of restorative justice to “spotlight the people and stories that have been excluded from our national narrative.”

Previously, Wolde-Michael was curatorial editor at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (2011-18), joining the museum five years in advance of its grand opening in 2016. She was responsible for historical writing and interpretative texts for museum scripts, exhibition labels, catalogs, and multimedia. During her tenure at NMAAHC, she worked with teams on key projects, including the landmark inaugural exhibition “Slavery and Freedom” and the Slave Wrecks Project, a major international program.

Wolde-Michael’s academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in women and gender studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and a master’s degree in history from Harvard University.

“Through her work for the Smithsonian, Wolde-Michael has shown herself to be an extraordinarily talented curator and historian with an ability to engage communities through innovative and impactful exhibitions and public history projects that illuminate the ways history shapes both our country and daily lived experience,” NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo), said in a statement.

“She brings to the position a deep understanding of the issues of vital concern for museums, archives, historic sites, and other cultural institutions, and a passion for using the humanities to help build a more just and equitable society.”

“The administration’s broad vision for the arts and humanities stretches us to think about how these sectors help us better understand racial equity, climate change, and ourselves as a nation.” — Tsione Wolde-Michael

THE PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE for the Arts and the Humanities was first established by President Reagan in 1982. The committee is funded by Congress along with public/private partnerships and philanthropic support.

Under President Obama, members of the committee included Kerry James Marshall, Chuck Close, Pamela Joyner, Jhumpa Lahiri, Yo Yo Ma, Thom Mayne, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, George C. Wolfe, and Mary Schmidt Campbell, who served as vice chair.

During the Obama Administration, PCAH programming and activities emphasized youth and international diplomacy. Turnaround Arts employs arts programming to help low-performing schools improve student achievement and academic outcomes. (The national initiative is now a program of the Kennedy Center.)

Held Oct. 3, 2016, South by South Lawn, the White House festival of ideas, art, and action, was inspired by South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Also in 2016, PCAH members participated in a cultural mission to Cuba, following President Obama’s announcement in 2014 that he was “charting a new course” and normalizing relations with Cuba.

During the first year of the Trump Administration, the committee became inactive. Following the Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va., PCAH members resigned en mass sending a letter of rebuke to Trump when he failed to condemn the racist rhetoric and violent actions of the white supremacist hate groups that participated. He responded by not renewing the executive order required for the committee to continue with new members, effectively disbanding it.

With a new executive executive order in place and a new executive director on board, President Biden is expected to name 25 non-government members to the committee in the coming weeks.

“It is important to note that this is a new Executive Order and a new PCAH, which marks a signature moment for the arts, the humanities, and museum and library services,” Wolde-Michael said in an email statement to Culture Type.

“The administration’s broad vision for the arts and humanities stretches us to think about how these sectors help us better understand racial equity, climate change, and ourselves as a nation. In that vein, the five-year gap in the committee’s activity has not changed my priorities. The administration’s inclusive vision, however, inspires me to guide the PCAH in establishing policies and inter-agency frameworks that advance the arts and humanities in a way that has meaningful impact in communities across the country.” CT

 

FIND MORE The Obama Administration published a report about the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, outlining its “legacy of action,” from 2009-16

 

BOOKSHELF
Previous members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities have published notable books. The volumes include “Kerry James Marshall: Mastry,” which accompanied the artist’s 35-year retrospective; “An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden” by Mary Schmidt Campbell; and “Four Generations: The Joyner / Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art,” which is dedicated to the collection of Pamela Joyner. A series of publications document the origin story of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and celebrate and explore some of its collections, including “Begin with the Past: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture” by Mabel O. Wilson, “National Museum of African American History and Culture: A Souvenir Book,” and Lonnie G. Bunch III’s memoir, “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump.” Also consider, “Sweet Home Café Cookbook: A Celebration of African American Cooking.”

 

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