WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema issued the following statement on Shelly Lowe and Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson’s nominations to lead the National Endowments for the Humanities and Arts.
“Shelly Lowe’s and Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson’s nominations as Chairs of the National Endowments for the Humanities and Arts bring exciting, diverse new voices to the table on expanding access to the arts and humanities across America, and I look forward to the Senate’s consideration of their nominations.”
Shelly Lowe, a citizen of the Navajo Nation who grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, Arizona, currently serves as member of the National Council on the Humanities. Lowe’s higher education career includes Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, Assistant Dean in the Yale College Deans Office, and Director of the Native American Cultural Center at Yale University. Previously, Lowe served for six years as Graduate Education Program Facilitator for the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Arizona. If confirmed, Lowe would be the nation’s first Native American to serve as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson was nominated to be Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Jackson, a tenured Institute Professor in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, has served as an advisor on philanthropic programs and investments at national, regional, and local foundations. If confirmed, Dr. Jackson would be the first African American and Mexican American to serve as Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.
