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Friday, November 06, 2009
N.M. in Spotlight at White House Event
By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — When first lady Michelle Obama announced the 2009 recipients of the Coming Up Taller awards in Washington on Wednesday, New Mexico was definitely in the house — the White House, that is.
Jill Cooper Udall, wife of Sen. Tom Udall, attended the White House event as one of President Obama's 25 new appointees to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Representatives of Albuquerque's Keshet Dance Company were there, too, as proud recipients of a Coming Up Taller Award — an honor bestowed by the committee.
Keshet Dance Company's Outreach Program with Incarcerated Youth was one of just 15 youth arts programs to win the award from a pool of more than 400 that applied from around the nation. The honor not only carries a heap of prestige, but also a $10,000 cash payment to each winning group.
Keshet Dance Company, located on the grounds of the New Mexico state juvenile detention center in Albuquerque, uses dance to teach literacy, math and conflict resolution skills.
Shira Greenberg, the company's founder and artistic director, told the Journal at the White House after the ceremony that the 14-year-old arts organization is proud of the honor. She said she hoped it would spread awareness of the positive influence that arts can have in young people's lives.
"It goes far beyond just dance," Greenberg said.
The first lady sounded a similar theme in her public remarks.
"We all know the power of the arts to change young people's lives," Obama said. "That's why we're working to make the White House a showcase of American cultural life and opening the doors to as many young people as we can."
Udall's appointment by President Obama was announced Tuesday.
Her colleagues on the committee include actors Sarah Jessica Parker, Edward Norton and Forest Whitaker, as well as cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Vogue Editor Anna Wintour.
A former Officer of Cultural Affairs for the state of New Mexico, Udall now consults for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian and sits on the board of visitors and governors for St. John's College, and the boards of directors for Ford's Theatre, Santa Fe Conservation Trust, and the Meridian International Center.
Udall said she was "delighted" by the appointment.
"They (the arts) have been a tremendous influence in my life, and the president's committee is one place in the administration where I know I can make a real contribution for New Mexicans," Udall said.
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