National Medal of Arts

National Medal of Arts, National Endowment for the Arts , design: Robert Graham , 1984

The National Medal of Arts is the most prestigious award given by the United States Congress to artists and patrons of the arts. The winners are nominated annually by the US Academy National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and are ceremonially honored by the President of the United States . The award was first presented in 1984 and the artist Robert Graham was commissioned to design the medal.

As early as 1983, before the official award of this medal, artists and art patrons were awarded a medal at the instigation and suggestions of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities by Ronald Reagan .

The medal has been awarded over 250 times in the first 25 years of its existence.

controversy

In 1997, Adrienne Rich refused to accept the National Medal for the Arts , saying:

“ I cannot accept a prize from President Clinton or the White House because what art stands for, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical politics of this administration. "

- Adrienne Rich

Award winner in the 1980s

1985 award winner Elliott Carter , composer Ralph Ellison , author José Ferrer , actor and director Martha Graham , dancer and choreographer Louise Nevelson , sculptor Georgia O'Keeffe , painter Leontyne Price , concert and opera singer Dorothy Buffum Chandler , cultural organizer Lincoln Kirstein , writer Paul Mellon , art patron Alice Tully , singer Hallmark Cards , manufacturer of greeting cards

1986 laureate Marian Anderson , opera singer Frank Capra , film director Aaron Copland , composer Willem de Kooning , painter Agnes de Mille , dancer and choreographer Eva Le Gallienne , actress and producer Alan Lomax , folklore and music researcher Lewis Mumford , writer Eudora Welty , writer Dominique de Ménil , patron of the arts ExxonMobil Seymour Horace Knox , art patron

1987 award winner Romare Bearden , actor and writer Ella Fitzgerald , jazz singer Howard Nemerov , author Alwin Nikolais , dancer and choreographer Isamu Noguchi , sculptor William Schuman , composer Robert Penn Warren , writer and poet JW Fisher , patron of the arts Armand Hammer , art patron Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Lewis, patrons of the arts

1988 laureate Saul Bellow , writer and Nobel Prize winner Helen Hayes , actress Gordon Parks , director, photographer, actor, writer and film music composer Ieoh Ming Pei , architect Jerome Robbins , dancer and choreographer Rudolf Serkin , pianist Virgil Thomson , composer Sydney J. Freedberg , art historian and curator Roger L. Stevens , theater producer Brooke Astor , patron of the arts Francis Goelet , music sponsor Obert C. Tanner , patron of the arts

1989 award winner Leopold Adler , monument protector Katherine Dunham , dancer, anthropologist, choreographer, civil rights activist, and author Alfred Eisenstaedt , photographer Martin Friedman , museum director Leigh Gerdine , patron of the arts Dizzy Gillespie , jazz musician, composer, singer, arranger and band leader. Walker Hancock , sculptor Vladimir Horowitz , pianist Czesław Miłosz , poet Robert Motherwell , painter John Updike , writer Target Corporation

Laureate in the 1990s

1990 award winner George Abbott , screenwriter, director and actor Hume Cronyn , actor and screenwriter Jessica Tandy , actress Merce Cunningham , dancer and choreographer Jasper Johns , painter and sculptor Jacob Lawrence , painter BB King , blues guitarist and singer David Lloyd Kreeger , art patron Harris & Carroll Sterling Masterson , patrons of the arts Ian McHarg , landscape architect Beverly Sills , opera singer Southeastern Bell Corporation

1991 laureate Maurice Abravanel , conductor Roy Acuff , country singer and music publisher Pietro Belluschi , architect John Carter Brown , director of the National Gallery of Art Charles "Honi" Coles , tap dancer and choreographer John O'Hea Crosby , Opera Director Richard Diebenkorn , painter R. Philip Hanes , patron of the arts Kitty Carlisle , actress and singer Pearl Primus , dancer and choreographer Isaac Stern , violinist Texaco

1992 laureate Marilyn Horne , opera singer James Earl Jones , author Allan Houser , sculptor Minnie Pearl , country comedian Robert Saudek , television producer Earl Scruggs , musician Robert Shaw , conductor Billy Taylor , jazz pianist Robert Venturi , architect Denise Scott Brown , architect Robert Wise , film producer AT&T Lila Bell Wallace , publisher

1993 laureate Walter Annenberg , art patron Leonore Annenberg , art patron Cab Calloway , jazz singer and band leader Ray Charles , musician Bess Lomax Hawes , folk singer Stanley Kunitz , poet Robert Merrill , opera singer Arthur Miller , writer Robert Rauschenberg , painter, graphic artist, photographer, object artist and pioneer of Pop Art in the USA Lloyd Richards , actor and theater director William Styron , writer Paul Taylor , dancer and choreographer Billy Wilder , screenwriter, film director and film producer

1994 award winner Harry Belafonte , singer, actor and entertainer Dave Brubeck , jazz pianist, composer and band leader Celia Cruz , singer Dorothy DeLay , violin teacher Julie Harris , actress Erick Hawkins , dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly , actor, director, dancer and choreographer Pete Seeger , folk musician Catherine Filene Shouse , patron of the arts Wayne Thiebaud , pop art artist Richard Wilbur , poet Young Audiences

1995 laureate Licia Albanese , opera singer Gwendolyn Brooks , poet B. Gerald and Iris Cantor , art patrons Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee , actors David Diamond , composer James Ingo Freed , architect Bob Hope , comedian, actor and entertainer Roy Lichtenstein , painter Arthur Mitchell , dancer and choreographer Bill Monroe , country singer, musician and composer Urban Gateways , organization for art education

1996 laureate Edward Albee , writer Sarah Caldwell , opera conductor and opera director Harry Callahan , photographer Zelda Fichandler , theater director Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero , singer, guitarist and songwriter Lionel Hampton , jazz musician Bella Lewitzky , dancer and choreographer Vera List , patron of the arts Robert Redford , actor, film director and film producer Maurice Sendak , illustrator and children's book author. Stephen Sondheim , musical composer and lyricist Boys Choir of Harlem

1997 laureate Louise Bourgeois , sculptor Betty Carter , jazz singer Agnes Gund , art patron Daniel Urban Kiley , landscape architect Angela Lansbury , actress James Levine , conductor and pianist Tito Puente , jazz, salsa and mambo musician Jason Robards , actor Edward Villella , dancer and choreographer Doc Watson , singer of country, bluegrass, gospel and folk songs MacDowell Colony

1998 laureate Jacques d'Amboise , ballet dancer and choreographer Antoine "Fats" Domino , rhythm and blues musician Ramblin 'Jack Elliott , folk singer Frank Gehry , architect and designer Barbara Handman , arts activist Agnes Martin , artist Gregory Peck , actor Roberta Peters , opera singer Philip Roth , author Sara Lee Corporation Steppenwolf Theater Company Gwen Verdon , actress and dancer

1999 award winner Irene Diamond , talent scout Aretha Franklin , soul singer and pianist Michael Graves , architect and designer Odetta Holmes , singer Juilliard School Norman Lear , television writer and producer Rosetta LeNoire , actress Harvey Lichtenstein , dancer Lydia Mendoza , singer George Segal , sculptor Maria Tallchief , ballet dancer

Laureate in the 2000s

2000 Prize Winner Maya Angelou , writer and poet Eddy Arnold , country singer Mikhail Baryshnikov , dancer Benny Carter , jazz musician Chuck Close , painter Horton Foote , playwright and screenwriter Lewis Manilow , art patron National Public Radio Claes Oldenburg , sculptor Itzhak Perlman , violinist Harold Prince , theater director and producer Barbra Streisand , actress, singer, film director, producer, screenwriter, songwriter and composer

2001 laureate Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation , Modern Dance Company and School Rudolfo Anaya , writer Johnny Cash , singer and songwriter Kirk Douglas , actor and producer Helen Frankenthaler , painter Judith Jamison , dancer and choreographer Yo-Yo Ma , cellist Mike Nichols , director, screenwriter and producer

2002 award winner Florence Knoll , architect and designer Trisha Brown , dancer and choreographer Philippe de Montebello , museum director Uta Hagen , stage actress Lawrence Halprin , landscape architect Al Hirschfeld , cartoonist George Jones , country singer Ming Cho Lee , designer and teacher William "Smokey" Robinson , soul and R&B singer

2003 award winner Austin City Limits , Public Broadcasting Service television station Beverly Cleary , writer Rafe Esquith , art educator Suzanne Farrell , dancer and choreographer Buddy Guy , blues musician Ron Howard , actor, director and film producer Mormon Tabernacle Choir Leonard Slatkin , conductor George Strait , country singer and songwriter Tommy Tune , dancer and choreographer

2004 award winner Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Ray Bradbury , writer Carlisle Floyd , opera composer Frederick Hart , sculptor Anthony Hecht , poet John Ruthven , artist Vincent Scully , architectural historian Twyla Tharp , choreographer and ballet master

2005 award winner Louis Auchincloss , writer James DePreist , conductor Paquito D'Rivera , Cuban jazz musician Robert Duvall , actor and director Leonard Garment , art attorney Ollie Johnston , animator Wynton Marsalis , jazz trumpeter Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Tina Ramirez , dancer and choreographer Dolly Parton , country singer and songwriter

2006 Prize Winner William Bolcom , composer Cyd Charisse , dancer Roy DeCarava , photographer Wilhelmina Cole Holladay , art patron Interlochen Center for the Arts Erich Kunzel , conductor Preservation Hall Jazz Band , Jazz Ensemble Gregory Rabassa , translator Viktor Schreckengost , industrial designer and sculptor Ralph Stanley , blues musician

2007 award winner Morten Lauridsen , composer Navarre Scott Momaday , writer and painter Craig Noel , director Roy Neuberger , patron of the arts Les Paul , musician Henry Z. Steinway , patron of the arts George Tooker , painter Andrew Wyeth , painter Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (University of Idaho)

2008 Prize Winner Olivia de Havilland , actress Fisk Jubilee Singers , choir Ford's Theater Society , Theater and Museum Hank Jones , jazz musician José Limón Dance Foundation , Modern Dance Institute Stan Lee , comic book writer and editor Jesús Moroles , sculptor Presser Foundation , music patron Sherman Brothers , songwriter

2009 award winner Bob Dylan , singer and songwriter Clint Eastwood , actor and film director Milton Glaser , graphic designer Maya Lin , artist, architect and monument designer Rita Moreno , actress and singer Jessye Norman , soprano Joseph P. Riley , politician Frank Stella , painter and sculptor Michael Tilson Thomas , conductor John Williams , composer Oberlin Conservatory of Music School of American Ballet

Award winner in the 2010s

2010 Prize Winner Robert Brustein , theater critic and playwright Van Cliburn , pianist Mark di Suvero , sculptor Donald Hall , poet Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Quincy Jones , composer and record producer Harper Lee , writer Sonny Rollins , saxophonist Meryl Streep , actress James Taylor , singer and songwriter

2011 award winner Will Barnet , painter Rita Dove , poet Al Pacino , actor Emily Rauh Pulitzer , philanthropist, patron Martin Puryear , sculptor Mel Tillis , singer and songwriter United Service Organizations André Watts , pianist

Prize winner of 2012 The White House again published public domain photos and a video of the award ceremony as well as brief explanations for the award winners: Herb Alpert , musician Lin Arison , art educator Joan Myers Brown , dance teacher Renée Fleming , opera singer Ernest Gaines , writer Ellsworth Kelly , painter Tony Kushner , screenwriter Elaine May , actress Laurie Olin , landscape architect Allen Toussaint , music producer Washington Performing Arts Society

2013 Prize Winner Julia Alvarez , author Joan Harris , patron of the arts Bill T. Jones , dancer and choreographer Jeffrey Katzenberg , film producer Maxine Hong Kingston , author John Kander , composer Albert Maysles , cameraman and director Linda Ronstadt , singer Tod Williams and Billie Tsien , architects James Turrell , artist Brooklyn Academy of Music George Lucas , film producer and director

2014 award winner John Baldessari , concept artist Ping Chong , choreographer and stage director Míriam Colón , actress The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation , charity founded by Doris Duke Sally Field , actress Ann Hamilton , artist Stephen King , writer Meredith Monk , singer and performance artist George Shirley , opera singer University Musical Society , the University of Michigan facility for promoting arts Tobias Wolff , writer

2015 Prize Winner Mel Brooks , actor and director Sandra Cisneros , writer Eugene O'Neill Theater Center , theater company Morgan Freeman , actor and director Philip Glass , composer Berry Gordy , music producer Santiago Jiménez Jr. , Folk musician Moisés Kaufman , playwright Ralph Lemon , dancer and choreographer Audra McDonald , actress and musician Luis Valdez , writer and director Jack Whitten , painter

Award winner of the year 2019 Alison Krauss , singer Sharon Percy Rockefeller , patron of the arts The Musicians of the United States Military , military musician Jon Voight , actor

See also

National Humanities Medal

Web links

• National Endowment for the Arts: National Medal of Arts ( English )

1. ^ President Obama Presents the 2012 National Medals of Arts and Humanities
2. ↑ press release