ABOUT THE PROGRAM
KEY ADDRESSES
This year's convention will feature prominent keynote speakers addressing the arts and community from many perspectives.
W. Richard West, Jr.
Saturday, July 17
11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
 W. Richard West, Jr., a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne, is founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). West has devoted his professional life and much of his personal life to working with American Indians on cultural, educational, legal, and governmental issues. Before becoming director of the NMAI, West was a partner in the Washington, DC, office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, & Jacobson, and subsequently in the Indian-owned Albuquerque law firm of Gover, Stetson, Williams, & West,
P.C. He served as general counsel and special counsel to numerous Indian
tribes and organizations. In that capacity, he represented clients before
federal, state, and tribal courts; various executive departments of the
federal government; and the Congress.
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Dana Gioia
Sunday, July 18
12:30 p.m.–2:00 p.m.
 Dana Gioia is an internationally acclaimed poet, literary critic, educator, and former business executive. An influential critic, Gioia is best known for his 1991 book Can
Poetry Matter? about the role of poetry in contemporary culture. His collection of poems, Interrogations
at Noon, won the 2002 American Book Award. His anthology Literature:
An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, co-edited with X. J. Kennedy, is a best-selling college literature textbook. Gioia has been a long-time commentator on American culture and literature for BBC Radio. His poems, translations, essays, and reviews have appeared in The
New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post
Book World, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, The
Hudson Review, and other publications. Gioia also served as the classical music critic for San
Francisco Magazine from 1997 to 2002. His work has been set to music by composers in genres from classical to rock, including a full-length dance theater piece, "Counting the Children." In 2001, Gioia founded Teaching Poetry, dedicated to improving high school teaching of poetry. He was confirmed in January 2003 as the ninth chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.
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James Carville and Mary Matalin
Monday, July 19
12:45 p.m.–2:30 p.m.
 James
Carville, America's best-known political consultant, was the chief campaign
strategist for Clinton/Gore in 1992. His long list of electoral successes
is evidence of a knack for steering overlooked campaigns to unexpected landslide
victories and for remaking political underdogs into upset winners. Mary Matalin
formerly served as assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to
Vice President Dick Cheney, and was the first White House official to hold
that double title. Carville and Matalin co-authored the best-selling political
campaign book All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President. Together they
form a political powerhouse. Experience their straightforward, humorous, and
enlightening presentation on politics today.
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