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President Obama has selected 25 members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a list that includes such entertainment industry names as Bryan Lourd, Liz Manne, Edward Norton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Andy Spahn, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, George C. Wolfe and Alfre Woodard. Others on the committee include Yo-Yo Ma, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, philanthropist Teresa Heinz, lawyer Jill Cooper Udall and architect Thom Mayne and ballet dancer Damian Woetzel.

The committee, to be chaired by George Stevens Jr. and Margo Lion, will advise Obama on elevating the role of the arts in society. with Mary Schmidt Campbell as vice chair, is tasked with advocating for the value of the arts and humanities, and works with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The committee's executive director is Rachel Goslins, an attorney and independent producer who also is the wife of FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.