Karen Pence vows to keep the arts alive in new role

WASHINGTON (AP) – Karen Pence, the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, says she hasn’t yet decided which issues she will work on as the nation’s second lady, but says art therapy remains “near and dear to me.”

Pence worked as an art teacher, and as Indiana’s first lady she advocated for art therapy to help children being treated in hospitals.

She told reporters at the Indiana Inaugural Ball on Thursday that she may also work with incoming first lady Melania Trump on issues, taking a cue from Michelle Obama and Jill Biden’s work with military families.

She says it hasn’t really “hit any of us” that her husband will soon be vice president, but it will become real once he takes the oath Friday.