U.S. Department of Art & Technology
Press Secretary
press@usdept-arttech.net
For Immediate Release: November 19, 2001
RANDALL M. PACKER TO BE SWORN IN AS FIRST
SECRETARY OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF ART & TECHNOLOGY
The US Department of Art & Technology is
pleased to announce that on Friday, November 30th, Randall M. Packer will
be sworn in as the first Secretary of the US Department of Art & Technology.
The ceremony will take place at 9:00 p.m. at the Mt. Royal Station Auditorium
in Baltimore, as part of the Link: A Critical Journal on the Arts in Baltimore
& the World release event celebrating their new edition on art &
technology. Pre-ceremony festivities will begin at 8:00 PM. US DAT Chief
of Protocol and founder of the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) Alice
Denney will officiate at the ceremony.
As the Department's first Secretary, Mr. Packer
will work with the White House and the Government to promote new media
initiatives and revolutionary aesthetic and scientific ideologies intended
to help the nation cope with an increasingly mediated society in these
times of crisis. Packer will represent US artists' interests actively
on a range of political, economic, commercial and security issues, and
will reveal dramatic new measures to confront these issues by increasing
artistic production and critical efforts in the media arts across the
nation.
Mr. Packer's nomination was recently announced
by President Bush in his first artist-based initiative in the wake of
recent terrorist attacks and their impact on the national psyche. Upon
receiving the nomination, Packer has announced that "it is the role
of the artist to engage its government in meaningful cultural dialogue
vital to national interests. For in the words of Marshall McLuhan, 'to
prevent undue wreckage in society, the artist tends to now move from the
ivory to the control tower of society'"
The ceremony is open for press coverage. Press
who wish to cover the ceremony should inform LINK Media Contact Joy McClure
(410.327.4001) before the close of business on Monday, November 26. Please
note that there will not be a "question and answer" period offered
at this event. Press will be escorted out of the building at the conclusion
of the ceremony.
The Mt. Royal Station Auditorium is located
at 1400 Cathedral Street (across from the Lyric Theater) in Baltimore.
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