By Tom McClimon
April 19, 2010

Conference of Mayors Past President Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr, presented the 23rd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy on April 12 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington (DC).

Riley is the first mayor to be chosen for this honor, which has included such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, William Safire, Ken Burns, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Robert Redford, David McCullough, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. This lecture, presented in conjunction with National Arts Advocacy Day, draws an attendance of over 1000 people each year, including members of Congress and the Administration, leading arts advocates and senior corporate and government officials. The lecture is named in honor of Nancy Hanks, a former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and former president of Americans for the Arts.

Riley was chosen for this honor by the Americans for the Arts in consultation with Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. The evening’s printed program described Riley as “…one of the most visionary and highly effective governmental leaders in America. A recipient this year of the prestigious National Medal of Arts by the White House, Mayor Riley has set the national standard for urban revitalization and been a model of civic support for the arts and culture.” Riley is a founder of the Mayors Institute on City Design, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary. Over 800 mayors have participated in its programs. The mayor was also recognized for his local leadership in revitalizing his city, especially the historic downtown business district and in the creation and growth of the Spoleto Festival USA.

Riley’s remarks centered on the importance of urban design in the building and revitalization of America’s cities. Using many of the slides, photographs and projects that he uses at a Mayors Institute on City Design, Riley encouraged each of the audience members to leave with a better understanding and awareness of the importance that city design plays in communities. “Each of us needs to insure that we leave our cities as better more livable places and much of that is accomplished by good urban design,” he stated. The mayor also called for a White House Summit on Arts and Cities.

Alaska US Senator Mark Begich, the former mayor of Anchorage, introduced Riley. In 2004 as mayor, Begich participated in a Mayors Institute on City Design in Charleston. He introduced Riley as “a visionary and dedicated public servant that all of us do our best to emulate.”