Press Releases

Save America's Treasures Awards $10.52 Million in Preservation Grants

General Van Steuben's drill manual (right) taught the Continental Army the essentials of military fighting discipline during the Revolutionary War. Now it can only be opened to one page because the rest of the document is so brittle. This book is one example of the forty exceptional artifacts and structures that will be restored and conserved with awards totaling $10.52 million from Save America's Treasures (SAT). Learn More...

President's Committee and Federal Cultural Partners Expand Ties with China

Chairman Adair Margo, Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH), welcomed the new Minister of Culture from the People's Republic of China, Cai Wu, to the U.S. in mid-November. Following up on the successful cultural delegation Margo led to China in 2007, Minister Cai Wu began his visit with the PCAH's Coming Up Taller award ceremony at the White House. Learn More...

PCAH Announces 2009 Coming Up Taller Nominations

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is inviting nominations for the 2009 Coming Up Taller Awards. In partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), PCAH is embarking on the twelfth year of the Coming Up Taller Awards, which recognizes the accomplishments of exceptional arts and humanities after-school and out-of-school programs. Coming Up Taller finalists receive $10,000, an individualized plaque, and an invitation to attend the Coming Up Taller Leadership Enhancement Conference. Click here for the nomination form.

PCAH Chairman Adair Margo Receives Presidential Award

Adair Margo Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush during a surprise ending to the National Medal of the Arts and the National Humanities Medal awards ceremony. Joining Chairman Margo in receiving this award were National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia; National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Bruce Cole; and Anne-Imelda M. Radice and Robert S. Martin, the current and former Directors of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Learn More...

Mrs. Laura Bush Presents 2008 Coming Up Awards at White House Ceremony

Mrs. Laura Bush presented the 2008 Coming Up Taller Awards (CUT) at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on November 14. Groups from 19 communities in the U.S., Mexico, China and Egypt were honored for their outstanding arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of young people, providing them with new learning opportunities and a chance to contribute to their communities. Learn More...

AFI Project: 20/20 Launches its Third Year at AFI FEST

Seven American and International filmmakers are participating in AFI Project: 20/20 for 2008-2009 and made their debut at the American Film Institute (AFI) AFI FEST 2008, presented by Audi, in Los Angeles in early November. This begins the third year of AFI Project: 20/20, which is an unprecedented international cultural exchange program that seeks to engage audiences here and abroad through filmmakers and their films. This cultural diplomacy initiative led by AFI is underwritten by the U.S. cultural agencies—the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)— and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Learn More...

The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities Partners with Arts Midwest

As a part of our ongoing collective efforts with the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities partnered with Arts Midwest to help sponsor a U.S. performing arts tour of a musical troupe from Inner Mongolia called An Da Union. “Anda” means “good friends” in Mongolian, and all 14 members of this performing ensemble hail from the Xilingol Grassland area of Inner Mongolia. The members of this talented troupe, which came together in 2003, studied the folk music they now perform at the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Opera and Dance Theater. Learn More...

President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
Honors Puerto Rican Culture at its Meeting in San Juan

Jaime Fonalledas, President and CEO of Empresas Fonalledas, welcomed Chairman Adair Margo and members of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) to San Juan, Puerto Rico for their 63rd meeting. A member of the President's Committee, Fonalledas invited local cultural and government officials to interact with the heads and representatives from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as well as the other PCAH members, who are drawn from business, arts, humanities and other professions. Learn More...

Flauta sin Fronteras Tours U.S.-Mexico Border with Support from the PCAH

Flauta sin Fronteras features Elena Durán, a flutist who has performed with many of the world’s major orchestras. Her passion is to use music as a bridge between cultures and this new tour will follow the arc of the U.S.– Mexican border from Matamoros to El Paso. The tour is one of several such artist cultural exchanges over the last several years supported through the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Learn More...

Mrs. Laura Bush Honors the 50th Anniversary of National Library Week

The Institute of Museum and Library Services wishes to share with our colleagues the following letter from Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States. View original.

Learn more about programs for libraries and museums at the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Save America’s Treasures Solicits Applications for 2008

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and the National Park Service are seeking applicants for the Save America’s Treasures (SAT) 2008 grant program. Eligible applicants include nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c), U.S. organizations, units of state or local government, and federally recognized Indian Tribes. To be considered for a SAT competitive grant, the collection or historic property benefiting from the funding must be nationally significant and meet the selection criteria. In 2007, the SAT competitive program made fifteen awards to institutions with collections, artifacts, artistic works or documents and another sixteen awards were made to organizations caring for structures and sites for a total of $7.6 million. Learn More...

Lincoln Cottage Restored with Help From Save America’s Treasures

One of the most significant, but little remembered places in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln has been restored with an award from Save America's Treasures and through the efforts of its private partner the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more than 140 years the Lincoln Cottage, which served as a summer retreat for President Lincoln during his presidency, has been off-limits to visitors and almost forgotten, except by scholars. Today, what was once a rural residence known to Lincoln as the Solidiers Home—currently the Armed Forces Retirement Home—is tucked away in an urban neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Cottage now joins the rest of capital’s well known landmarks. Learn More...

PCAH Extends Relationship with Chinese Minister of Culture

The dialogue and relationships begun last June by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) and Chairman Adair Margo with Chinese cultural officials sparked a recent visit to the United States by Sun Jiazheng, China's minister of culture at the invitation of Chairman Margo. He participated in PCAH's Coming Up Taller ceremony at the White House on January 28th, which made its first award to a Chinese youth arts and humanities group from Shanghai, the Little Companion Art Troupe at the China Welfare Institute's Children's Palace. Following the ceremony, Chairman Margo and Dr. James Billington, Librarian of Congress, served as co-hosts for a luncheon at the Library of Congress in honor of Minister Sun. Learn More...

President’s Committee Chairman Adair Margo Receives Aztec Eagle Award

President’s Committee Chairman Adair Margo received the highest decoration awarded by Mexico to people who are not citizens of Mexico at a ceremony held at the Cultural Institute of Mexico in Washington DC in mid November. The Order of the Aztec Eagle was bestowed upon Margo and three other arts and cultural leaders recognized for their contributions to strengthening the relationship between Mexico and the United States. The honor was resented to the recipients by Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan. First Lady Laura Bush, Margo’s longtime friend, was in attendance at the ceremony. Learn More...

First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush Honored for Her Preservation Leadership

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Home & Garden TV (HGTV) honored First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush and four other individuals and organizations with the prestigious Restore America hero award. The award honors public officials, private citizens and corporations whose energy, vision and leadership have had a significant impact on the preservation of our historic and cultural legacy—the buildings, collections, documents and works of art that tell America’s story. Mrs. Bush was recognized for her long-standing leadership in preservation. Learn More...