NOTE FROM JOHN BRADEMAS & HARRIET MAYOR FULBRIGHT
President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities,
Chairman and Executive Director
Two years ago, the President's Committee identified promising community arts and humanities programs for children in a landmark report, Coming Up Taller: Arts and Humanities Programs for Children and Youth At Risk. Recent research documents what the Presiden's Committee report observed: Quality arts and humanities programs can make a difference in the lives of children, including those at risk because of school and neighborhood violence, domestic instability or economic deprivation. Young people in arts-focused youth organizations, when compared with their friends, are: more likely to win academic honors, more certain they will graduate from high school and continue their studies, more likely to enjoy reading and to feel self-respect, and more likely to be recognized for community service.
This year, the President's Committee in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts has established an annual recognition awards program as part of our strategy to showcase cultural excellence and enhance the availability of arts and humanities programs to children. Through the Coming Up Taller Awards, we seek to focus national attention on concrete examples of the arts and the humanities benefiting this country and to contribute significant support to the distinguished programs of artists and scholars who work with children in communities across America.
The President's Committee received over 600 nominations from 48 states and the District of Columbia. This publication describes the ten honored programs and lists 40 semifinalists. To the awardees, we offer our congratulations. We also recognize that all of the programs nominated are an integral part of a larger vision for a safe and creative America.
