“Maria Rosario Jackson, a national leader in integrating arts and culture into community development, was confirmed Saturday morning as the first African American and Mexican American to lead the National Endowment for the Arts,” writes Peggy McGlone in Saturday’s (12/18) Washington Post. “Jackson, 56, earned a doctorate in urban planning from the University of California at Los Angeles, and she’s a professor at Arizona State University and a sought-after speaker on how to embed arts, culture and design into community life. Jackson previously worked at the Urban Institute, a think tank in Washington. In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed her to the National Council on the Arts, the panel that advises the endowment. She has served on many boards of arts organizations, including … the Music Center in Los Angeles, where she lives. President Biden made the historic nomination in October…. At the same time, he nominated Shelly Lowe to be the first Native American to lead the National Endowment for the Humanities. Lowe’s nomination has not been confirmed…. Jackson credited her father, who retired from the Postal Service, and her mother, who worked for the Los Angeles school district, for cultivating a love of the arts.”
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