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President Bush Announces Choices to Serve
on the National Council on the Arts
February 5, 2003
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Contact:
Ann Puderbaugh
202-682-5570
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Washington, D.C. - President Bush has nominated four individuals to serve on the
National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for
the Arts. The President named soprano Mary Costa, painter Makoto Fujimura,
artist/illustrator Jerry Pinkney and music educator Dr. Karen Lias Wolff to
serve on the Council.
The nominations will be reviewed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is the committee chairman and Sen.
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is the ranking member. Once confirmed, the new Council
Members will serve six-year terms.
The National Council on the Arts advises the Chairman of the National Endowment
for the Arts on policies, programs, and procedures for carrying out the agency's
functions, duties and responsibilities. Council members are chosen for their
widely recognized knowledge of the arts, their expertise or profound interest in
the arts, and their established record of distinguished service or achievement
in the arts.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Mary Costa, soprano (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Mary Costa's singing career spanned four decades and included performances with
the San Francisco, Metropolitan, Bolshoi and Knoxville Opera Companies. At the
time of her retirement in 1984, she had 44 operas in her repertoire. Her career
choices were never confined to one particular genre but crossed many areas of
performance including opera, concerts, recitals, musical comedy, motion
pictures, radio and television. Costa has received many honors, one of which
was a command performance at the White House in 1974. Among her most recent
awards are "Women in the Performing Arts" (1993), "The Puccini Award" (1999),
and Metropolitan Opera Guild recognition for distinguished Verdi Performances of
the twentieth century (2001). Her voice is known around the world for her
portrayal of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney animated classic "Sleeping
Beauty."
Makoto Fujimura, painter (New York, N.Y.)
Makoto Fujimura uses the ancient Nihonga style of Japanese painting in which
natural mineral pigments dissolved in animal-skin glue are worked into paper and
mounted on panels. Fujimura uses jewel tones such as malachite, vermilion,
cinnabar and gold to create lush, abstract colorfields typically representing
rivers, bridges and trees. Fujimura overlays the landscapes with Biblical
quotes inscribed in smudged gold ink. His work has been featured in numerous
museum shows including solo exhibitions at the Sen and Tamaya Galleries in Tokyo
and the Dillon Gallery in Oyster Bay, N.Y. Born in Boston, Fujimura received a
bachelor's degree from Bucknell University as well as master's and doctoral
degrees from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
Jerry Pinkney, artist/illustrator (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.)
Jerry Pinkney has illustrated more than 80 children's books and 14 novels since
1960 and has the rare distinction of being the only artist to have won the
Coretta Scott King Award for illustration four times, in addition to having five
works named Caldecott Honor Books. He has had more than 30 one-man
retrospectives ranging from the Art Institute of Chicago to the California
African American Museum, and has illustrated for a wide variety of clients
including National Geographic, RCA Records and the U.S. Postal Service. Born in
Philadelphia, Pinkney attended the Philadelphia Museum College of Arts (now
known as University of the Arts) where in 1992 he received the Alumni Award. He
has been an art professor at the University of Delaware and at Pratt Institute.
Dr. Karen Lias Wolff, music educator (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Dr. Karen Lias Wolff is the Dean of the University of Michigan School of Music,
with responsibility for oversight of a $19 million budget, 122 faculty and 60
staff. Previously, she served as Dean of the Oberlin College Conservatory of
Music and as Director of the University of Minnesota School of Music. She also
held various positions at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of
Music. She serves on the boards of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, the Ann
Arbor Summer Festival and the Interlochen Arts Academy. Wolff received a
bachelor's degree from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and master's and
doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan. Her teaching specialty is the
training of youth choral groups and her dissertation concerned the effects of
music education on academic achievement.
For more information about the National Council on the Arts and its Members,
visit http://www.arts.gov/about/NCA/About_NCA.html or contact the NEA Office of
Communications at 202-682-5570
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