Emerging Leader Reception
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Monday, March 13, 2006, 8:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m.
L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, Caucus Room
This reception was sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation and the Program in Arts Management, Shenandoah University.
More than 50 students and professionals attended the Emerging Arts Leaders' Networking Reception on Monday, March 13, 2006. This event, which the Fannie Mae Foundation and Shenandoah University’s Arts Management Program co-sponsored, was held in conjunction with Arts Advocacy Day and featured Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan. An emerging leader himself, the 32-year-old congressman scored an A+ on the Americans for the Arts Action Fund Congressional Report Card, serves on the Congressional Arts Caucus, and won the Government Leadership Award at the Akron Arts Alive! Gala last fall.
While attendees enjoyed hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and the company of other arts leaders, Congressman Ryan spoke about the value of the arts to the United States. He identified the arts as one of America’s greatest resources, and playing an essential role in America's continued economic development. Ryan established a strong connection between the arts and innovative thinking, explaining that without a robust creative industry the United States might not maintain its position in the global marketplace. But Ryan also spoke about the value of the arts to communities and individuals. He praised their capacity to transform communities by revitalizing their downtowns and public spaces. He also highlighted their ability to shape or reshape individual lives dramatically. Ryan even confessed to performing air guitar concerts with his congressional staffers, an omission which underscores the humor he interjected throughout his engaging remarks.
