On March 16, 2010 the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on a new staff of the President’s Council for Culture and Art including leading figures of Russian culture. Among its members are Dmitry Shvidkovsky, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Rector of the Moscow Institute of Architecture; Andrei Kovalchuk, sculptor, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, Member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, Chairman of the Artists’ Union of Russia; Nickolai Mukhin, painter, People’s Artist of the Russia Federation, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, Director of the “Yaroslavl Icon” school.