Should the White House Have an Artist-in-Residence?

Every May brings with it a new crop of college graduation speeches. This spring, few (maybe none) were as though-provoking as multimedia artist Laurie Anderson’s at the School of Visual Arts in New York City last week. Speaking in front of a graduating class of artists setting out on their careers (full video here), Anderson centered her talk on her experience as the first (and last) artist-in-residence at NASA. Weaving a fascinating argument on how mutually beneficial that relationship was, Anderson called for an artist-in-residence in the U.S. Congress, the Supreme Court, and even the White House. In an era of increasing budget cuts and demands for smaller government, is an artist-in-residence in the White House an unnecessary luxury or something we can’t afford not to have? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Should the White House Have anArtist-in-Residence?"