Free Republic

******************************************************* Introduction On May 12th, more than 60 artists and creative organizers engaged in civic participation, community development, education, social justice activism, and philanthropy came together for a White House briefing on Art, Community, Social Justice, National Recovery. This meeting combined the interests of several groups addressing intersecting issues. All are interested in the power of the arts to build communities and create change. Arlene Goldbard requested a meeting with community cultural development practitioners and thinkers to talk about how the remarkable mobilizing power of community arts can be used by the Obama administration as a tool and a pathway...

Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood has revealed new audio of the August 10 National Endowment for the Art, White House, and United We Serve conference call. However, The Obama administration apparently met with 60 artists and creative organizers as early as May 12 according to an online document (Download)by the Pratt Center for Community Development, State Voices, Arlene Goldbard, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Other artists(link1 link 2)have corroborated this meeting happened.

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul arrive at 10 Downing Street in London, to meet Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tuesday May 12, 2009. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, greets, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, at 10 Downing Street, London, Tuesday, May 12, 2009 U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (R) and Iraqi parliament speaker Ayad al-Samarai hold a news conference in Baghdad May 10, 2009. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi talks during a news conference in Washington, DC. Pelosi has arrived in Baghdad...