Good evening, I'm Bob Booker, and I
have the pleasure of being the executive director
of the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
I have two of my board members here,
and I'd like them to stand up.
Lisa Barnes and Tim Bee, who had been great members
of the commission.
Lisa chaired the selection committee this year
for the poet laureate.
Our mission is that we imagine an Arizona where everyone
can participate in and experience the arts, whoever
you are, wherever you're from, and wherever you live.
And we take that to heart in the work
that we do every day to serve Arizonans.
I want to recognize the nominees for this position as well.
And if you're here, I'd like you to stand.
Stuart Watkins, Bob Atkinson, James Cox, David Ray.
Please give them a round of applause.
My message is simple when I travel around the state.
I want parents to understand that taking their kids
to theater class or poetry lessons
is as important as taking them to the swimming pool
or to soccer camp.
I want our elected officials to understand
that public funding for the arts is
a smart move, an economic move, and a move
to build communities.
I want grandparents to understand that kids are not
getting arts and education in the classrooms
that they remember, and that they
need to talk to our superintendents and our school
boards about the value of the arts in our li-- in the lives
of our children.
I want mayors to be as proud of centers like this
as they are of their business corporations, their libraries,
and their community churches.
And finally, I want neighbors to be as proud of the fact
that they have a poet as a neighbor,
a dancer as a neighbor, an artist,
or a theater actor as a neighbor.
And that's the dream that we have at the Arizona Commission
on the Arts.
When I started my job, there was a broadside by this guy named
Alberto Ríos hanging in my office.
The former director left it there for me.
As I learned more about Tito and his work, I became enamored,
and I've used his poems in many gatherings.
Tito was initially one of our artists
in residence and working in schools early on,
helping children understand literature, understand the use
of words, understand poetry.
I've seen Tito's work amaze people,
bring great joy to their lives, and bring them to tears.
It's with great respect that I thank you
for becoming our poet laureate, and welcome you tonight.