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| National Medal of Arts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | President of the United States & National Endowment for the Arts |
| Eligibility | Civilians |
| Established | 1984 by the United States Congress |
| First awarded | 1985 |
| Website | www |
 Ribbon of the medal | |
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government. Nominations are submitted to the National Council on the Arts, the advisory committee of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), who then submits its recommendations to the White House for the President of the United States to award.[1] The medal was designed for the NEA by sculptor Robert Graham.
Laureates
In 1983, prior to the official establishment of the National Medal of Arts, through the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, President Ronald Reagan awarded a medal to artists and arts patrons.[2]
| Name | Area of Achievement |
|---|---|
| Pinchas Zukerman | Artist |
| Frederica von Stade | Artist |
| Czesław Miłosz | Artist |
| Maya Lin | Artist |
| Frank Stella | Artist |
| Philip Johnson | Artist |
| Luis Valdez | Artist |
| The Texaco Philanthropic Foundation | Patron |
| James Michener | Patron |
| Philip Morris | Patron |
| The Cleveland Foundation | Patron |
| Elma Lewis | Patron |
| The Dayton Hudson Foundation | Patron |
Recipients of the National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts was first awarded in 1985. The ceremony was not held in 2021 or 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic therefore the 2021 recipients were given the award in 2023.[3]
| Year | Name | Area of Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Elliott Carter Jr. | composer |
| Ralph Ellison | writer | |
| Jose Ferrer | actor | |
| Martha Graham | dancer, choreographer | |
| Louise Nevelson | sculptor | |
| Georgia O'Keeffe | painter | |
| Leontyne Price | soprano | |
| Dorothy Buffum Chandler | arts patron | |
| Lincoln Kirstein | arts patron | |
| Paul Mellon | arts patron | |
| Alice Tully | arts patron | |
| Hallmark Cards | corporate arts patron | |
| 1986 | Marian Anderson | contralto singer |
| Frank Capra | film director | |
| Aaron Copland | composer | |
| Willem de Kooning | painter | |
| Agnes de Mille | choreographer | |
| Eva Le Gallienne | actress, director, author | |
| Alan Lomax | folklorist, scholar | |
| Lewis Mumford | philosopher, literary critic | |
| Eudora Welty | writer | |
| Dominique de Menil | arts patron | |
| Exxon Corporation | corporate arts patron | |
| Seymour H. Knox II | arts patron | |
| 1987 | Romare Bearden | painter |
| Ella Fitzgerald | singer | |
| Howard Nemerov | writer, scholar | |
| Alwin Nikolais | dancer, choreographer | |
| Isamu Noguchi | sculptor | |
| William Schuman | composer | |
| Robert Penn Warren | writer, poet | |
| J. W. Fisher | arts patron | |
| Armand Hammer | arts patron | |
| Frances Lewis | arts patron | |
| Sydney Lewis | arts patron | |
| 1988 | Saul Bellow | writer |
| Helen Hayes | actress | |
| Gordon Parks | photographer, film director | |
| Ioeh Ming Pei | architect | |
| Jerome Robbins | dancer, choreographer | |
| Rudolf Serkin | pianist | |
| Virgil Thomson | composer, music critic | |
| Sydney Freedberg | art historian, curator | |
| Roger L. Stevens | arts administrator | |
| Brooke Astor | arts patron | |
| Francis Goelet | music patron | |
| Obert Clark Tanner | arts patron | |
| 1989 | Leopold Adler | preservationist, civic leader |
| Katherine Dunham | dancer, choreographer | |
| Alfred Eisenstaedt | photographer | |
| Martin Friedman | museum director | |
| Leigh Gerdine | arts patron, civic leader | |
| John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie | jazz trumpeter | |
| Walker Hancock | sculptor | |
| Vladimir Horowitz | pianist (posthumous) | |
| Czesław Miłosz | writer | |
| Robert Motherwell | painter | |
| John Updike | writer | |
| Dayton Hudson Corporation | corporate arts patron | |
| 1990 | George Abbott | producer |
| Hume Cronyn | actor | |
| Jessica Tandy | actress | |
| Merce Cunningham | choreographer & dance company director | |
| Jasper Johns | painter & sculptor | |
| Jacob Lawrence | painter | |
| B. B. King | blues musician | |
| David Lloyd Kreeger | arts patron | |
| Harris & Carroll Sterling Masterson | arts patrons | |
| Ian McHarg | landscape architect | |
| Beverly Sills | opera singer | |
| Southeastern Bell Corporation | corporate arts patron | |
| 1991 | Maurice Abravanel | music director & conductor |
| Roy Acuff | country singer | |
| Pietro Belluschi | architect | |
| J. Carter Brown | museum director | |
| Charles "Honi" Coles | tap dancer | |
| John O. Crosby | opera director, conductor, administrator | |
| Richard Diebenkorn | painter | |
| R. Philip Hanes | arts patron | |
| Kitty Carlisle Hart | actress, singer & arts administrator | |
| Pearl Primus | choreographer & anthropologist | |
| Isaac Stern | violinist | |
| Texaco | corporate arts patron | |
| 1992 | Marilyn Horne | opera singer |
| James Earl Jones | actor | |
| Allan Houser | sculptor | |
| Minnie Pearl | comedian | |
| Robert Saudek | television producer, Museum of Broadcasting founding director | |
| Earl Scruggs | banjo player | |
| Robert Shaw | orchestra conductor, choral director | |
| Billy Taylor | jazz pianist | |
| Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown | architects | |
| Robert Wise | director | |
| AT&T | corporate arts patron | |
| Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund | foundation arts patron | |
| 1993 | Walter and Leonore Annenberg | arts patrons |
| Cabell "Cab" Calloway | singer & bandleader | |
| Ray Charles | singer & musician | |
| Bess Lomax Hawes | folklorist | |
| Stanley Kunitz | poet & educator | |
| Robert Merrill | baritone | |
| Arthur Miller | playwright | |
| Robert Rauschenberg | artist | |
| Lloyd Richards | theatrical director | |
| William Styron | writer | |
| Paul Taylor | dancer & choreographer | |
| Billy Wilder | director, writer & producer | |
| 1994 | Harry Belafonte | singer & actor |
| Dave Brubeck | jazz musician | |
| Celia Cruz | singer | |
| Dorothy DeLay | violin teacher | |
| Julie Harris | actress | |
| Erick Hawkins | choreographer | |
| Gene Kelly | actor & dancer | |
| Pete Seeger | composer, lyricist, vocalist, banjo player | |
| Catherine Filene Shouse | arts patron | |
| Wayne Thiebaud | artist, teacher | |
| Richard Wilbur | poet, teacher, critic, literary translator | |
| Young Audiences | arts presenter | |
| 1995 | Licia Albanese | opera singer |
| Gwendolyn Brooks | poet | |
| B. Gerald and Iris Cantor | arts patrons | |
| Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee | actors | |
| David Diamond | composer | |
| James Ingo Freed | architect | |
| Bob Hope | entertainer | |
| Roy Lichtenstein | painter, sculptor | |
| Arthur Mitchell | dancer, choreographer | |
| Bill Monroe | bluegrass musician | |
| Urban Gateways | arts education organization | |
| 1996 | Edward Albee | playwright |
| Sarah Caldwell | opera conductor | |
| Harry Callahan | photographer | |
| Zelda Fichandler | theater director, producer, educator | |
| Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero | composer, musician | |
| Lionel Hampton | musician, bandleader | |
| Bella Lewitzky | dancer, choreographer, teacher | |
| Vera List | arts patron | |
| Robert Redford | actor, director, producer | |
| Maurice Sendak | writer, illustrator, designer | |
| Stephen Sondheim | composer, lyricist | |
| Boys Choir of Harlem | performing arts youth group | |
| 1997 | Louise Bourgeois | sculptor |
| Betty Carter | jazz vocalist | |
| Agnes Gund | arts patron | |
| Daniel Urban Kiley | landscape architect | |
| Angela Lansbury | actress | |
| James Levine | opera conductor, pianist | |
| Tito Puente | Latin percussionist, musician | |
| Jason Robards | actor | |
| Edward Villella | dancer, choreographer | |
| Doc Watson | bluegrass guitarist, vocalist | |
| MacDowell Colony | artist colony | |
| 1998 | Jacques d'Amboise | dancer, choreographer, educator |
| Antoine "Fats" Domino | rock 'n' roll pianist, singer | |
| Ramblin' Jack Elliott | folk singer, songwriter | |
| Frank Gehry | architect | |
| Barbara Handman | arts advocate | |
| Agnes Martin | visual artist | |
| Gregory Peck | actor, producer | |
| Roberta Peters | opera singer | |
| Philip Roth | writer | |
| Sara Lee Corporation | corporate arts patron | |
| Steppenwolf Theatre Company | arts organization | |
| Gwen Verdon | actress, dancer | |
| 1999 | Irene Diamond | arts patron |
| Aretha Franklin | singer | |
| Michael Graves | architect, designer | |
| Odetta | singer, music historian | |
| The Juilliard School | performing arts school | |
| Norman Lear | producer, writer, director, advocate | |
| Rosetta LeNoire | actress, producer |