The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) is an agency of the

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government. As of October 2022, the Interim Executive Director is David Markey. CAH was created as an outgrowth of the U.S. Congress Act that established the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities of 1965. The Foundation provided for four operating federal agencies including the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. CAH's office is in the Navy Yard neighborhood of southeast

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The current chairperson of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is Reggie Van Lee and the current vice chairperson is Maggie FitzPatrick. The current commissioners, appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser and confirmed by D.C. Council, are: Stacie Lee Banks, Cora Masters Barry, Maggie FitzPatrick (chair, Public Arts Committee), Quanice Floyd (chair, IDEA Committee), Natalie Hopkinson, Kymber Menkiti (treasurer and chair, finance committee), Maria Hall Rooney, Carla Sims, Hector Torres (secretary and chair, Arts Education Committee), and Gretchen Wharton (chair, grants committee)

Background

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities provides grants, professional opportunities, education enrichment, and other programs and services to individuals and nonprofit organizations in all communities within the District of Columbia. After the creation of the

(NEA), it was mandated that the NEA provide equal block grants to the official state arts agencies in each state. If a state didn’t have an official state arts agency, it was eligible to receive money to create such an agency. The statute paragraph in D.C. code, DC ST § 39-201, says that the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) was founded in 1975, but the National Assembly of State Art Agencies (NASAA) has legislative appropriations numbers for CAH from 1968 forward. NASAA’s State Arts Council records dated August 1968 lists the D.C. member as the Recreation Board of the District of Columbia. This board had an Arts Advisory Committee whose chairman was Gerson Nordlinger. The “Special Assistant for the Arts” was Gerald Boesgaard. The Recreation Board of the District of Columbia was abolished in 1968. All functions of the Recreation Board were transferred to the Mayor-Commissioner of the District of Columbia, Walter E. Washington. At that time, the name changed to the D.C. Commission on the Arts, under the direction of Gerald Boesgaard. After the 1973

District of Columbia Home Rule Act The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a United States federal law passed on December 24, 1973, which devolved certain congressional powers of the District of Columbia to local government, furthering District of Columbia home rule. In par ...

, which provided for an elected mayor and 13-member Council of the District of Columbia, the agency took on its current role in the city as the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. It appears the statutory status of the Commission changed in 1975 to take its current form. NASAA does not have the original 1968 code and their records begin with the 1975 version. In theory, CAH’s original authorization might not have been a statute. It could have been a mayor or council proclamation, rather than a chapter in D.C. code.

Grantmaking

CAH offers grants in the categories of Arts Education, Community Arts, Cultural Facilities, East of the River, Festivals and City Arts, Grants-In-Aid, Individual Artists, Public Art Building Communities and UPSTART.Freed, Benjamin. "D.C. Arts Commission Overhauls Grant Programs." ''Washington City Paper.'' July 11, 2011.
/ref> The Commission also grants visual artists through a program called Art Bank, which purchases art and places those works in government buildings throughout the city.

Executive Directors

* 1969 Gerald Boesgaard * 1976-1979

Larry Neal Larry Neal or Lawrence Neal (September 5, 1937 – January 6, 1981) was a scholar of African-American theatre. He is well known for his contributions to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He was a major influence in pushing for black ...

, appointed by

Walter Washington Walter Edward Washington (April 15, 1915 – October 27, 2003) was an American civil servant and politician. After a career in public housing, Washington was the chief executive of Washington, D. C. from 1967 to 1979, serving as the first a ...

* 1979-1984 Millie Bautista, appointed by

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

* 1984-1986 James “Jim” Backas, appointed by Marion Barry * 1986-1994 Barbara Nicholson, appointed by Marion Barry * 1994-1997 Pamela G. Holt, appointed by

Sharon Pratt Kelly Sharon Pratt (born January 30, 1944), formerly Sharon Pratt Dixon and Sharon Pratt Kelly, is an American attorney and politician who was the third mayor of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1995, the first mayor born in the District of Colum ...

* 1997-2008 Anthony Gittens, appointed by Marion Barry * 2008 Lionell Thomas (Interim) * 2008-2010 Gloria Nauden, appointed by

Adrian Fenty Adrian Malik Fenty (born December 6, 1970) is an American politician who served as the sixth mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term, from 2007 to 2011, losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gra ...

* 2010-2011 Ayris Scales (Interim) * 2011-2015 Lionell Thomas, appointed by

Vincent C. Gray Vincent Condol Gray (born November 8, 1942) is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015. He served for one term, losing his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary to D.C. Council member ...

* 2015 Lisa Richards Toney (Interim) * 2015-2018 Arthur Espinoza Jr., appointed by

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Counci ...

* 2018-2019 Terrie Rouse-Rosario, appointed by

* 2019-2022 Heran Sereke-Brhan, PhD., appointed by

* October 2022-present David Markey (Interim)

References

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External links

Official website
{{Authority control Arts councils of the United States Great Society programs Government of the District of Columbia Government agencies established in 1968 Arts foundations based in the United States