QUICK TAKES - May 19, 2009

First Lady Michelle Obama took a breather from her listening tour of federal agencies for a culture break in New York, stopping by the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday to help reopen its new American wing.

Obama said that she and the president hope to give America’s children better access to the arts.

“The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it,” she said. “Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation.”

Attending the ceremony was a broad mix of city and state officials and members of New York’s art and fashion worlds, plus students from four New York City public schools that specialize in the arts. In the evening the first lady attended American Ballet Theatre’s spring gala at the Metropolitan Opera House, where she told the audience of her support for arts education.