Alexander Sworn In as Chair of the NEA : Arts: Actress pledges ‘to bring the best art to the most people’ as head of the embattled agency.

Actress Jane Alexander was sworn in Friday as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, ending a long leadership vacuum at the embattled agency and pledging to use her new podium to promote the NEA’s past successes rather than its occasional missteps.

In an irony befitting Alexander’s theatrical background, the oath of office was administered by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, whose role as the first woman appointed to the high court was presaged by Alexander in a 1970s stage play.

“It’s a perfect case of life imitating art,” Alexander said after the ceremony, recalling her starring role as the first female justice in the Broadway production of “First Monday.”

With her left hand on a Bible and her right hand held aloft, Alexander recited the oath before a crowd of about 400 people in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, promising to do all she can “to bring the best art to the most people.”

Although she made no mention of the rancorous debate about the NEA’s role in funding arts projects and performers considered offensive by some conservative organizations, Alexander indicated that she sees her primary responsibility as that of a missionary for the beleaguered agency and the creative endeavors it tries to foster.

Art, she said in her brief acceptance speech, represents the solution, not the problem, in debates over contemporary values and artistic achievement.

“If I can accomplish anything as chairman, it would be to release the imagination and creative spirit that I feel is alive in all people of all ages in this vast and wonderful country of ours,” Alexander said.

Alexander’s swearing-in accompanied a luncheon held in honor of recipients of the National Medal of Arts and the Frankel Prize. The awards, presented by President Clinton in a White House ceremony on Thursday, honor distinguished achievements in the arts and humanities. Recipients who attended the swearing-in included playwright Arthur Miller, folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes and author William Styron.

The ceremony included public tributes to the award recipients by Alexander and Sheldon Hackney, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and remarks by James Billington, Librarian of Congress.

Alexander’s acceptance speech received a standing ovation. Ana Steele, who has overseen the NEA as acting chair of the agency, praised her successor, saying, “I’m thrilled to be passing the baton.”