A Presidential Pen: Ansel Adams and the Birth of the NEA

President Johnson presents Ansel with a bill signing pen, White House Rose Garden, Sept. 29, 1965. Photograph by Yoichi Okamoto, LBJ Presidential Library Archives

Nearly sixty years ago, on September 29, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the White House Rose Garden to sign a landmark piece of legislation. With a stroke of Johnson’s pen, the United States committed, for the first time in our history, to supporting the arts and humanities at the national level. Johnson had just created the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), institutions that have since shaped generations of American cultural and intellectual life.

Standing just a few feet away from President Johnson were a smattering of the nation’s leading artists, writers, and intellectuals—actor Gregory Peck, architect Walter Gropius, writer Ralph Ellison, and none other than Ansel Adams.

By then, Ansel was one of the most respected artists in the country—revered for his luminous photographs of the American wilderness and for the environmental ethic that infused his life and work. But he was also there because he represented something deeper: a lifelong belief in the value of the arts, not just as ornament, but as necessity. President Johnson’s remarks that day spoke to the importance of this idea:

“Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves—and to others—the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Over his career, Ansel had truly earned the right to stand in the Rose Garden as a representative of the nation’s artistic “inner vision.” He had spent decades advocating not only for the preservation of the wilderness, but for the elevation of photography as an art form. In 1940, he helped organize the first photography department at the Museum of Modern Art. He worked tirelessly, taught constantly, mentored young artists, and co-founded institutions—like Group f/64 and the Friends of Photography—to expand the reach of fine art and photography in American life.

“Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.” Photograph by Kim Weston, © 2025 Weston Photography, LLC. kimweston.com/
Edward Weston was a founding member of Group f/64 with Ansel Adams.

“Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham.” Original gelatin silver photograph by Alan Ross, 1975.
Imogen Cunningham was a founding member of Group f/64 with Ansel Adams.

He also understood, deeply, the power of artistic vision. His photographs were more than beautiful images. They were acts of persuasion, visual arguments for conservation and public investment in the natural and artistic heritage of the nation. His work changed the way people looked at the American landscape, building support for the National Park system and reminding policymakers and citizens alike of the spiritual value of our lands.

That morning in the Rose Garden, when President Johnson handed Ansel one of the ceremonial pens used to sign the bill into law, it was in recognition of his unique combination of artistic genius and innovative insight. It honored not only Ansel’s contribution to American art, but his conviction that art matters.

Nobel laureate Glenn Seaborg, a fellow champion of the NEA, put it well:

“Science and technology are providing us with the means to travel swiftly. But what course do we take? This is the question that no computer can answer.”

Art, Ansel might have added, helps us find that course.

As we celebrate the anniversary of the NEA’s founding, we remember not only the groundbreaking legislation, but the artists who gave it meaning. We honor this legacy by believing, as fervently now as ever, that creativity is a public good.