"Secretary of Art "

" Secretary of Art "

Walter Gilman Page, Chairman of the Massachusetts State Art Commission, has framed a bill for the creation of a federal Department of Fine Arts, which will be introduced in the next session of Congress by a Massachusetts representative. Agitation for such a Department is not new, and the American Federation of Arts and the American Association of Art Directors have recorded themselves in its favor. President Harding is said to be willing to consider the plan. The Department's duties, under the bill, would include oversight of the National Gallery of Art, including the Freer Gallery; close cooperation with the Commission of Fine Arts-- the group of eminent artists who serve without compensation to advise and judge on construction of public buildings, monuments and other art matters; cultivation of international relations in the arts, and fostering of American artists' interests in foreign exhibitions; promotion of art education and improved taste, both among adults and in the schools.