Featured Work: President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

Widmeyer Communications has a longstanding relationship with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) based on our mutual goals to promote the value of arts experiences for the personal development and academic achievement of young people.

During the past several years, the emphasis on testing and standards for achievement in what many view as “core academic subjects,” such as reading and mathematics, has led many public schools and school systems to significantly limit exposure to the arts. At the same time, a broad corps of arts and education advocates continues to urge schools to reverse this trend, and others have called for a greater emphasis on arts experiences in after-school activities, particularly for children from “at-risk” communities. Unfortunately, the perception that the arts should simply be an “extra” element in young peoples’ development has been slow to change.

To counter the perception that the arts are insufficiently rigorous, demanding and useful for young people, Widmeyer has worked with the PCAH to demonstrate the tangible impact the arts have on leading young people toward productive lives marked by improved achievement, better school attendance and preparation for the workforce.
Beginning in 1996, we coordinated the national release of the PCAH’s enormously well-received report, Coming Up Taller: Arts and Humanities Programs for Youth-at-Risk. The Widmeyer team wrote media materials, conducted media outreach, and acted as a liaison to the 250-plus programs recognized in the report.
In recent years, we have managed media outreach around the annual Coming Up Taller Awards, which recognize programs that are achieving the greatest sustained success in utilizing arts and humanities to help young people from underserved communities lead productive lives. Our efforts have involved close coordination with the White House and First Lady under the Clinton, Bush and now Obama administrations.

Media coverage for the PCAH and Coming Up Taller programs has been extensive, with stories in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, National Public Radio, United Press International, ABC Radio Network, USA Today, Education Week, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Herald, and many others. In addition to national and larger regional media coverage, there has been extensive coverage in local markets where award winners reside.

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