Members of President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Resign in Protest | Playbill

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Industry News Members of President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Resign in Protest Panel members, including George C. Wolfe, have signed a letter to President Trump in response to the Administration’s handling of the events in Charlottesville.
George C. Wolfe Monica Simoes

All 17 members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities have resigned in protest to what they have called President Trump’s “support of hate groups and terrorists.“ The panel, which consists of artists from the worlds of theatre, film, the visual arts, and literature, penned a letter to the President on August 18 explaining their resignation was in direct response to the Administration’s handling of the racially charged events in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend.

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Kal Penn Shutterstock

Two-time Tony-winning director George C. Wolfe is among the members of the committee who resigned. Other members who signed the letter include actor Kal Penn, photographer and painter Chuck Close, author Jhumpa Lahiri, and musician Paula Boggs.

“Your words and actions push us all further away from the freedoms we are guaranteed,” reads the letter, which was shared on Twitter. “Reproach and censure in the strongest possible terms are necessary following your support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville.

The letter also references cuts to arts and cultural funding proposed in recent budget outlines, as well as President Trump’s comments on trans military members.

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities is an official White House agency and was established in 1982 under President Reagan. Its current members, who act as an advisory committee to the White House on cultural policy, join a number of White House council advisers who have resigned in protest this week.

Read the letter from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities below:

 
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