Leeway at the White House
LEEWAY’S BROWN SELECTED AS PART OF NATIONAL GROUP TO MEET WITH WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS ON THE ROLE OF ARTS IN ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Philadelphia, PA—Leeway Foundation Executive Director, Denise M. Brown was selected to join a group of arts and social justice activists from around the country to make their case to the White House to keep the arts at the center of the economic recovery plans. The meeting took place on May 12, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Ms. Brown was among a group of more than 60 community-based and grassroots activists organized by Yosi Sargeant from the White House and arts leaders Claudine Brown of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Caron Atlas, Arts & Democracy Project of State Voices and the Pratt Center for Community Development, Arlene Goldbard, author of Community Culture and Globalization, and Billy Wimsatt, League of Young Voters and Senior Strategist for Green for All.
"It was historic. This remarkable gathering of artists, cultural workers and their allies from around country interested in investigating what opportunities exist to work with the current administration in moving forward an agenda that includes the development of a national cultural policy, considers the intersection of arts, social justice and national recovery, and supports the work of individual practitioners and organizations that are on the ground doing the work," says Ms. Brown.
White House speakers at the event included Christina M. Tchen, the Director of the Office of Public Engagement (OPE); Mike Strautmanis, Chief of Staff for OPE; Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of OPE; Joseph Reinstein, Deputy White House Social Secretary; Trouper Sanders, Assistant Policy Director for Office of the First Lady; and Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President, the person designated to move the arts and culture agenda for the Obama Administration.
Participants, including dancer Liz Lerman, author Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop), actor Wendell Pierce (The Wire), and performance artist Rha Goddess, sought the assurances of the Obama administration’s commitment to the arts and offered their creative involvement in wider government initiatives intersecting with their respective fields.
"As one of very few funders nationally whose mission is to supports arts and social change, we at Leeway understand the important role individual artists play in any recovery. I am committed to making sure there’s a place for individual artists in these conversations now and in the future. It was an honor to be a part of it," says Ms. Brown.
After the White House briefing, participants convened to strategize next steps. Ideas included a follow-up conference, a partnership with the Labor Department, and talking points on the importance of the arts to be presented to the administration.
About Denise M. Brown
Denise has been Executive Director of the Leeway Foundation since 2006. She is currently Co-Chair of Bread and Roses Community Fund. In addition, she serves on the advisory committee of Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the boards of Delaware Valley Grantmakers, the Henrietta Wurts Memorial Fund, Scribe Video Center, and the newly formed Philadelphia Public Access Corporation. She served as Associate Director of the Bread and Roses Community Fund from 1998 to 2005. She previously served on the board of the Funding Exchange and the Women's Community Revitalization Project. A graduate of Brown University, Denise was a film programmer for the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, from its debut until 1998. She has also served as a panelist for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and others.
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