White House-hosted arts summit explores how to incorporate arts and humanities into problem-solving

The Environmental Protection Agency will pair artists with federal officials overseeing treasured bodies of water in the United States as part of a new initiative to use arts and culture to support water restoration and climate resiliency

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency will assign artists to treasured bodies of water in the United States under a new program announced Tuesday at a White House-sponsored conference on exploring ways to use the arts and humanities as another instrument for problem-solving.

Leaders from government, the arts, academia and philanthropy gathered in Washington for “Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities." Panel discussions focused on turning to the arts and humanities to solve challenges, from improving health to bridging divides.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the White House Domestic Policy Council hosted the daylong conference, which was the product of a September 2022 executive order from President Joe Biden.

Neera Tanden, who advises the Democratic president on domestic policy issues, said in an interview with The Associated Press before the summit that the arts help “people to see each other and understand how we're connected,” which can help “mend the social fabric of the country.”

Maria Rosario Jackson, the NEA chair, in a separate interview said the conference is an “unprecedented opportunity for people from different sectors to come together and lift up and explore some of the things that are possible when one thinks of the arts as not being confined to a narrow sector, but woven and integrated into other things we care about.”