WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced the appointment of members to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House. The Committee for the Preservation of the White House is an advisory committee charged with the preservation of the White House, the official home and principal workplace of the President of the United States. The Committee is largely made up of citizens appointed by the President for their experience with historic preservation, architecture, decorative arts, and for their scholarship in these areas.
The Committee is charged with establishing policies relating to the museum function of the White House, its state rooms, and collections. It 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, and the Director of the National Park Service serves as its Chair. Additionally, the Curator of the White House, Chief Usher of the White House, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Chair of the United States Commission of Fine Arts, and Director of the National Gallery of Art serve as Members of the Committee.
President Biden announced the appointment of the following individuals to serve as members of the Committee:
- Penny Ashford
- Leslie Greene Bowman
- Mel Buchanan
- Wendy A. Cooper
- John E. Frank
- Lauren Haynes
- Ethan W. Lasser
- Janni Lehrer-Stein
- J. Dean Norton
- Richard C. Nylander
- MK Pritzker
- Ellen Susman
- John Wilmerding
Penny Ashford
Penny Ashford is a photographer dedicated to capturing the effects of climate change across the globe. For her work, she has traveled to Antarctica, the North Pole, the Great Barrier Reef, Svalbard, Norway, and, most recently, Greenland to focus on water. Her photography has promoted awareness to Save the Children in Ethiopia, Grassroots Soccer in Zimbabwe, and Coaches Across the Continent in India. Her photographs have been exhibited in throughout the United States.
Ashford is the founder of Ashford Interiors, started in 1995 after working for six years with Cullman and Kravis, Inc. in New York City. She served on the board of Winterthur Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, The Pennsylvania Ballet, and St. Michaels School and Nursery in Wilmington, Delaware.
She is the mother of two daughters and lives with her husband in Wilmington.
