LATimes: Arts - Michelle Obama tells international audience why the arts matter - by Mike Boehm

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Arts - Michelle Obama tells international audience why the arts matter - by Mike Boehm

Michelle Obama hosted a concert at the Pittsburgh Creative & Performing Arts School for its students and the spouses of international leaders meeting at the G-20 economic summit.She gave an 11-minute address about the arts as a prelude to performances by guests Sara Bareilles, Yo-Yo Ma and Trisha Yearwood. Here are excerpts from her speech, from a transcript issued by the White House: “We believe strongly that the arts aren't somehow an 'extra’ part of our national life, but instead we feel that the arts are at the heart of our national life. It is through our music, our literature, our art, drama and dance that we tell the story of our past and we express our hopes for the future. Our artists challenge our assumptions in ways that many cannot and do not. They expand our understandings, and push us to view our world in new and very unexpected ways…..

LA Times: Michelle Obama's conquest of Europe - by Christi Parsons

Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni Sarkozy in Paris

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Michelle Obama's conquest of Europe - by Christi Parsons

Reporting from Strasbourg, France -- So far on her trip to Europe, Michelle Obama has hugged the queen of England, double cheek-kissed the glamorous first lady of France and electrified the celebrity-obsessed tabloids. When she talked to students at a school for underprivileged girls in London, though, her message was about her working-class childhood and her success gained through strong values and hard work in school.In other words, she may be wearing Jimmy Choo kitten heels these days, but the first lady pulled herself up by an old-fashioned pair of American bootstraps.

In President Obama's first official visit overseas, he is preaching a new foreign policy, calling on Europeans to set aside negative feelings toward the U.S. in favor of an era of friendship and cooperation. And Michelle Obama is unveiling her own policy of foreign engagement, one that blends a high-wattage celebrity with a message about self-reliance and personal possibility -- a story of special resonance on a continent where no minorities have risen to such prominence.