Executive Order 11112—Establishing the President's Advisory Council on the Arts

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Establishment of the Council. (a) There is hereby established the President's Advisory Council on the Arts (hereinafter referred to as the Council ). (b) The Council shall be composed of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Postmaster General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Housing and Home Finance Administrator, the Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the United States Information Agency, the Administrator of General Services, the President's Special Consultant on the Arts, and no more than thirty members appointed by the President from among persons in private life who are widely recognized for their role in the arts, including practicing artists, civic and cultural leaders, and others professionally engaged in the arts. Members from private life shall serve for terms of two years, except that the terms of members initially appointed shall be for one or two years as specified by the President. The Chairman shall also invite the Librarian of Congress to be a member of the Council. (c) The President shall designate the Chairman of the Council. (d) Federal members of the Council shall receive no compensation for such service. Members appointed from private life shall receive compensation for each day engaged on business of the Council and travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 55a; 5 U.S.C. 73b-2) for persons in the Government service employed intermittently. (e) The Council shall meet at the call of the Chairman. SEC. 2. Functions and Responsibilities of the Council. (a) The Council shall: (1) Survey and assess the needs and prospects of the various arts throughout the United States, the means used to encourage creative activity and to afford opportunity for participation in and appreciation and enjoyment of the arts, and the relative roles of governmental and non-governmental institutions in relation to the arts; (2) Identify existing Federal legislation, policies and programs which directly or indirectly affect the arts, and evaluate their current and potential effects on the development of cultural opportunities and institutions and, except to the extent that responsibility may be vested by statute in other Federal advisory bodies, the character and quality of Federal activities in the field of the arts; (3) Submit reports and recommendations to the President on its own initiative or at the request of the President or the President's Special Consultant on the Arts; (4) Encourage and facilitate the most effective use of resources available for support and development of the arts by advising and consulting with Federal, State and local agencies, civic and community organizations, educational institutions, foundations, and other interested organizations and institutions; and (5) Promote and stimulate public understanding and recognition of the importance of the arts and cultural institutions to our national welfare and our international interests. (b) In carrying out its functions the Council shall, insofar as practicable, provide interested Government and non-governmental agencies and organizations and private citizens, including practicing artists and others professionally engaged in the arts, an opportunity to present their views and recommendations to the Council for its consideration. (c) For the purposes of this section the arts are defined to include music, drama, opera, dance, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture and such allied fields as urban and landscape design, photography, graphic arts, crafts, motion pictures, radio and television. SEC 3. Federal Agencies. (a) As deemed necessary to facilitate the work of the Council, the Chairman may request the head of any executive department or agency whose activities have significant implications for the arts to designate a liaison officer to consult with and advise the Council on matters of common concern. (b) Upon request of the Chairman each executive department and agency is authorized and directed, consistent with law, to furnish the Council available information which the Council may require in the performance of its functions. (c) Each Federal agency represented on the Council shall furnish such necessary assistance to the Council as may be authorized by section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945, 59 Stat. 134 (31 U.S.C. 691). (d) The General Services Administration is hereby designated as the agency which shall provide administrative services for the Council on a reimbursable basis. JOHN F. KENNEDY THE WHITE HOUSE, June 12, 1963