continued from page 46 look like. So not only are they
empowered by that, they want to know how do they
replicate it, how can they go home and have the
same resources available to their professional staff
and their communities?
Circle 244
Let’s discuss your tenure. You will find that it’s hard to
accomplish very much in a single two-year NEA term
because of the time it takes simply to process things in
government. I ended up staying for two terms. I told you
not to apply for this job unless you were committed to at
least three years. Are you going to keep that promise?
Oh, you want that on record? Let’s just say that it’s
becoming increasingly clear to me that the work of the
design director cannot be easily achieved in a two-year
term, so I find myself already looking beyond two years
in order to bring my own thoughts about new national
initiatives to bear on the NEA.
© Steven Brooke Studios
I’ll take that as a yes. As you know, the main initiative that we began during my tenure—also covered in
Metropolis—was the Governors’ Institute, which teaches smart-growth techniques to state leadership. How
do you feel about that program? Are you going to kill
my baby?
Your baby is safe. I am elated that someone identified
a missing component to effective urban design and
regional planning. Particularly when you’re dealing with
issues of transportation, housing, and instruments that
shape the way development happens locally, the most
powerful and antiurban policies exist at the state level.
That program is an important recognition of the role
governors play in shaping the built environment, and I’m
looking forward to participating in the sessions.
Rakks wall-mounted shelving at Christine Desirée Collection, Sarasota, FL / Interior Design: Christine Desirée
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In supporting roles everywhere
I’ll end with a question that I was asked when I took the
job. I can tell you for a fact that there were some other
very strong candidates for the position. Why do you
think the chairman selected you?
I think chairman Dana Gioia understood that I shared his
mandate to spread the wealth of the arts into every
corner of America, which for me means placing design
within reach of communities that traditionally have been
outside what we think of as the cultural capitals. He
could have been reading a page from my own professional experience in that regard. It probably also helped
that I have a serious focus on implementation. I know
what it’s like to have an exciting transformative idea as a
mayor and then to have to convince thousands of people
to follow. And so I think he understood how important it
is to make design ideas actually happen, and probably
welcomed the opportunity to hire someone who has
struggled through th°at before and had a reasonable track record of success.
