WASHINGTON, DC (CelebrityAccess) – President Joe Biden has appointed Grammy and Golden Globe-winning singer/songwriter/actress and philanthropist Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) and Oscar and Tony-winning, Emmy-nominated producer Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Silver Linings Playbook) to co-chair the newly-revived President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities (PCAH).
The board includes a panel of members including, per the press release, “prominent artists, scholars, and philanthropists who have demonstrated a serious commitment to the arts and humanities” to an advisory board on cultural policy. The committee returns after a five-year hiatus, disbanding during Trump’s time in office to protest his response to the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA.
President Biden signed an executive order in September 2022 to revive the committee, created in 1982 under former President Ronald Reagan as part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The First Lady has historically served as Honorary Chair of the Committee, comprised of members appointed by the President. The PCAH will engage the nation’s artists, humanities scholars, and cultural heritage practitioners to promote excellence in the arts, humanities, and museum and library services and demonstrate their relevance to the country’s health, economy, equity, and civic life.
Other notable appointments to the committee include member Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Inventing Anna), member Joe Walsh (Eagles Guitarist), member George Clooney (Syriana, The Monuments Men), member Jennifer Garner (13 Going on 30, Peppermint), member Troy Kotsur (CODA), member Marta Kauffman (Friends), and member Kerry Washington (Scandal).
Lady Gaga performed the national anthem at Biden’s 2021 inauguration and was a vocal supporter during his campaign. When the election was officially called, she congratulated President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, “You just gave the world one of the greatest acts of kindness and bravery humanity has ever seen.”
