Michelle Obama Will Make International Hostess Debut at Pittsburgh G-20 Summit

If you think First Lady Michelle Obama gets scrutinized on her overseas trips, just wait till she hosts spouses of international leaders at a summit in Pittsburgh Sept. 24-25, where the global economic crisis will top the agenda.

The "Pittsburgh Summit 2009" is a meeting of the G-20, the Group of Twenty, an organization established in 1999 to bring together major world leaders to deal with global economic issues. The G-20 gathered in London last April.

The East Wing is now planning Mrs. Obama's activities, working with the State Department. "She will host the spousal program," Mrs. Obama's spokeswoman, Semonti Mustaphi, told me.While the first lady has welcomed spouses of world leaders to the White House, and has done the spouse thing herself while President Obama was at overseas meetings, this will be Mrs. Obama's first time playing international hostess on this scale.

Here's a look at Mrs. Obama's program so far:

-- She will preside over a private dinner for spouses at Teresa Heinz Kerry's Rosemont Farm. Mrs. Kerry is the wife of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), but her first husband, who was killed in a plane crash in 1991, was Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.). Earlier this year, Mrs. Kerry hosted a luncheon at her Washington, D.C., home to welcome to town Mrs. Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson.

Since Rosemont is a real farm, watch for this site to fit into Mrs. Obama's healthy eating and White House garden initiatives.

-- Mrs. Obama, who has already hosted jazz and country music events at the White House, will take the spouses to the Creative & Performing Arts School in Pittsburgh to introduce them to students who study dance, music, acting, writing and other creative arts.

-- Mrs. Obama will host a lunch at The Andy Warhol Museum. Warhol was raised in Pittsburgh.

Warhol coined the term "15 minutes of fame," of which this spouse group, especially Mrs. Obama, have had exponentially more.