NEW ORLEANS – On April 14, President Joseph R. Biden announced the appointment of Mel Buchanan, RosaMary curator of decorative arts and design at the New Orleans Museum of Art, to a committee dedicated to the preservation of the White House.
Appointees to the advisory committee are selected for their experience with historic preservation, architecture and decorative arts — and for their scholarship in these areas.
Buchanan is one of 13 appointees announced last week.
“It is truly an honor to be recognized by the President and First Lady to be part of this important work,” said Buchanan in a press release. “I look forward to collaborating with colleagues from across the country to ensure the White House’s museum policies reflect the present and future of the field and our country.”
In addition to guiding the museum function of the presidential residence and its state rooms, the committee also works to make recommendations on acquisitions for the permanent collection of the White House and provides advice on changes to principal rooms on the ground floor, state floor, and the historic guest suites on the residence floor of the White House executive residence. The First Lady serves as honorary chair of the committee.
In her role at NOMA, Buchanan leads exhibitions, interpretation and growth for the decorative art and design collection. In 2018, she completed a reinstallation of the department’s galleries, including the launch of a series of commissioned artworks.
