0:08ANNE JOHNSON: Thank you all for spending the day with us to help us celebrate the 40th
0:13anniversary of Art in Embassies. I’m sure you’ve not forgotten what I told you this
0:18morning, that the program would not be possible without everyone in this room participating.
0:24We are very grateful to such a generous art community.
0:29I think the conference today went really well, I want to thank Elizabeth Ash, I want to thank
0:34Virginia Shore on the curatorial team and Becky Clark for installing the wonderful sculpture
0:39exhibition that’s in the South Courtyard and also upstairs in these fabulous rooms.
0:45This contemporary art is quite wonderful. Thank you very much for coming. We won’t
0:51be doing this every year but we’re glad that we could celebrate our 40th together.
0:57I want to thank Secretary and Mrs. Powell for so generously hosting this beautiful reception,
1:03this is a very special place in Washington. Not everyone gets to come here, so we are
1:09extremely grateful for their generosity. The Art in Embassies program is part of the
1:15Overseas Building Operations. My boss is named General, too, General Charles Williams and
1:23I would like him to come forward and introduce our speaker. Thank you.
1:29CHARLES WILLIAMS: Well I have the best job this afternoon. Good afternoon, as Director
1:40of the Overseas Building Operations of the State Department I have the privilege of managing,
1:46the great privilege of managing the $12 billion portfolio of the department’s property overseas.
1:56We buy, we sell all property, we lease, we design, we build, we maintain thousands of
2:02buildings, in fact, 15,000 properties US government wide. My work gives me the opportunity to
2:12work with some talented, very talented architects, designers, builders and artists as you are,
2:20so delighted to see you today. Oversight of one of the areas of responsibility
2:26that gives me particular pleasure is the wonderful Arts in Embassies program. Originally conceived
2:35as a program to make our embassies look more American and beautiful, the program has over
2:41the last 40 years has evolved into one of the most effective diplomatic tools for the
2:47State Department. You as lenders make that diplomatic effort possible. Because of your
2:55generosity, foreign audiences each day have the opportunity to experience some of the
3:02best aspects of American culture which is communicated to them through your works of
3:09art. We thank you for helping us in our efforts to make friends for the US government and
3:15we look forward to your continued support. Anne Johnson, who just spoke, our director
3:21of the program, has been very innovative, and I don’t say this lightly, in her approach
3:27and has brought forth the Artist of the Month program for visibility and recognition. She
3:36has energized the effort with the expansion of our Artist Abroad program, bringing artists
3:42to local communities in 10 countries this year alone. This is the first year we launched
3:50this, so I can’t say enough about our director who you’ve met and you’ve worked with.
3:58Now, what I was supposed to be doing, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you someone
4:07who has given our organization and me all of the support that could be asked for to
4:14allow us to start the building of 28 new embassies around the world since 2001. Before that,
4:27we did 1 embassy every 2 years, around the world. And one who strongly believes in the
4:35Arts in Embassies program. My good friend, my boss … (laughter) … our Secretary of
4:45State, Colin Powell. COLIN POWELL: Thank you very much, General.
5:08(laughter) You make a guy a general, he starts to take over, you know what I mean? (laughter)
5:13But it is a great pleasure to welcome you all here this evening, the artists and lenders
5:19to the Art in Embassies program. And I would like to begin by saying how fortunate I am
5:28to have General Williams and his lovely wife, because they come as a team, Marjorie, as
5:36the head of our Overseas Building Operations. It happened this way when I became Secretary
5:41of State was designated to be Secretary of State in the fall of 2000 just before the
5:48inauguration in 2001 but that December/January winter period I was looking around and discovered
5:55that one of my responsibilities was to run a building program that spent about $1 billion
6:01a year and no one was really in charge of it. So my old friend General Williams, Corps
6:09of Engineers, brilliant officer, distinguished leader, man who knows something about building
6:15stuff. I called him and said “Come over here”. At that time, he still remembered
6:21that I was a 4-star and he wasn’t. So he showed up and I said, you have 3 weeks to
6:27tell me about this program. So he went out, did a three week study, came back and said,
6:33“You have one heck of a problem. Everything is over cost, overrun, over everything, and
6:41I don’t know what you’re going to do about it.”
6:43I said, “I do” and for the last three plus years Chuck has been by my side working
6:53for me and Rich Armitage, my deputy, and Grant Green, the undersecretary, has done a great
6:58job saving the taxpayers money, bringing the cost of the embassies down, and getting them
7:04finished on time and under cost and I am so pleased to have him with the department.
7:10I also want to express my thanks to Anne for all the terrific work she does in this program.
7:17Isn’t she a real star for this program? (applause) I want to welcome you to this wonderful
7:29room that you’ll hear something about in the course of the evening and Alma and I are
7:33so honored to honor Art in Embassies on its 40th anniversary. This wonderful program was
7:40founded as you know in 1964 making it 1 year older than both the National Endowment for
7:47the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. And for 40 years Art in Embassies
7:53has helped to tell America’s story to the world and it has told our story in the most
7:59vivid and compelling language that is available to us, the beautiful wonderful language of
8:04American art. For 40 years, the art exhibited in our diplomatic
8:08posts around the world has helped people across the globe to understand America’s rich cultural
8:15diversity and to appreciate our deep belief in freedom of expression. For 40 years, Art
8:22in Embassies has exemplified the idea that art and diplomacy go hand in hand. Indeed
8:29since our nation’s earliest age, art and diplomacy have complemented one another.
8:34It especially fitting that we are celebrating tonight here in my favorite room in the department,
8:40the Benjamin Franklin state dining room. Not only is this one of the most beautiful rooms
8:45in all of Washington, this magnificent room bears the name of a man who embodied the art
8:52of diplomacy and the diplomacy of art. Franklin was one of our first foreign envoys, his brilliant
8:59diplomacy convinced the French to throw their weight behind 13 scrappy colonies in our fight
9:05for independence. Europeans really loved Ben Franklin, they
9:09were charmed and fascinated by this gentleman. They saw him both as a philosopher and as
9:15a New World savage. Noble yet common, attractive and coarse, all at the same time. Franklin
9:22represented the hope and promise of America, he was a man from ordinary beginnings who
9:27realized his extraordinary potential and freedom and it was literally the image of Benjamin
9:34Franklin who inspired people in France and across Europe to champion America’s cause.
9:41Artists fought each other tooth and nail for the chance to render Franklin’s likeness.
9:47Old Ben sat for so many artists that it’s surprising he ever found time to get around
9:52to diplomacy. (laughter) His humble face was carved into marble, painted in oils, etched
9:59into metal, sketched onto paper, and fashioned into lady’s jewelry even. Franklin must
10:05have been delighted, absolutely delighted, by the sight of his image resting on the finest
10:10décolletages in Europe (laughter) I can handle that! (laughter)
10:20People everywhere could sense Old Ben’s spirit and through him they joined with the
10:25American colonists in a shared optimism, dreaming of a world that was freer and more democratic
10:32than the world they knew in Old Europe. Communicating America’s principles to countries
10:37all over the world mattered in Franklin’s time and it matters so much more today. Because
10:45in our globalizing world, nations large and small, developed and developing cannot being
10:50to tackle 21st century challenges by themselves, they can’t do it alone. We must reach out
10:56to them, we must reach out to one another, understand one another and find ways to work
11:02in concert with one another. Whether it’s fighting the war on terrorism or stemming
11:07the HIV/AIDS epidemic, lifting people out of poverty or building healthy democracies,
11:13we must join hands, we must join forces. And none of these challenges can be done by
11:18government alone. The private sector and the actions of individual citizens are crucial
11:24to our efforts. That’s why public private partnerships are an important component of
11:29so many of President Bush’s foreign policy initiatives. American needs public private
11:34partnerships that develop bonds between our citizens and the people of the world. And
11:40so after 40 years, American needs Art in Embassies more than ever. America needs cultural ambassadors
11:47whose voices reach beyond the apparatus of government and all of you, all of you here
11:54tonight, are answering our call, answering America’s call.
11:59You are launching the Artists Abroad program, an initiative that will enable us to send
12:04America’s art and artists directly into local communities overseas. This is the kind
12:10of diplomacy that America needs in the 21st century, people to people, direct diplomacy.
12:17Our world may be changing but the democratic principles American embodies are eternal and
12:23art’s ability to express those principles is unfailing. Like nothing else, America’s
12:30art expresses the creative spirit of our citizens and the power of our democratic ideals. Now
12:36more than ever, art and diplomacy must work together. We in government look to you to
12:42continue telling America’s story in the language of art, tell that story to the people
12:49of the world. Like America, Art in Embassies values and
12:54gives expression to diversity. Like America, Art in Embassies believes that liberty is
13:00a universal learning. And like America, Art in Embassies believes that human creativity
13:07is a powerful source of hope for all mankind. Ben Franklin knew all of this in 1776. The
13:17founders of the Art in Embassies program knew it in 1964. And those of you who continue
13:24to make Art in Embassies a success, know it today. The Art in Embassies program is stronger
13:30than ever and a grateful nation, and a very very grateful Secretary, thanks all of you
13:37for the work that you do. The President and Mrs. Bush extend their thanks to you. And
13:42on behalf of the men and women of the State Department who have the privilege of serving
13:47in front of your wonderful gifts to our wonderful nation, Alma and I thank you from the bottom
13:54of our heart. I would now like to take this opportunity
13:57to dedicate a new book, the Art in Embassies program. I want to thank Mr. Andrew Soloman
14:03who wrote the book’s insightful and informative central essay. This book and Mr. Soloman’s
14:09contribution to it chronicle how enormously successful Art in Embassies has been in helping
14:15our diplomats make lasting friends for the American people and now I would like to invite
14:21Anne Johnson and Andrew Soloman to the podium for the presentation.
14:26There you are! The book! (laughter) Andrew, would you like
14:38to say a word? SOLOMAN: That’s very kind.
14:46POWELL: Go ahead! SOLOMAN: I wasn’t prepared to say a word
14:51but I just wanted to say that I first came to be involved in the Art in Embassies program
14:56when a friend of mine was working for it some 17 years ago and the accomplishments of the
15:02program have perpetually thrilled and excited me. I think the presence of America’s high
15:07artistic tradition in the countries with which we have diplomatic relations eases those relationships
15:13and conveys the passionate freedom of America in a way that would not be possible without
15:18it. And I pay tribute to Anne Johnson and to Secretary Powell and all of the others
15:23who are responsible for the extraordinary achievements of this program. Thank you. (applause)
15:30JOHNSON: I have to say two more names from Art in Embassies, Marsha Mayo and Sally Mansfield,
15:38thank you very much for all your editorial things. And our government printers are actually
15:46here from Vienna, Austria to celebrate with us tonight. We have a book for each of you
15:50on the way out, please enjoy and continue painting and sculpting and making beautiful
15:57quilts. Thank you so much (applause)