Thursday (2/25) on the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster, Mike Boehm writes, “After deliberating for hours on healthcare in Thursday’s summit, President Obama turned to the arts, entertainment, literature and scholarship, conferring the National Medal of Arts—the nation’s highest award in the field—on 12 recipients and the National Humanities Medal on eight others.” The medals were presented by the president and Mrs. Michele Obama in an East Room ceremony at the White House. In addition to Bob Dylan and Clint Eastwood, who were unable to attend, the arts honorees “on the list released by the National Endowment for the Arts, which oversees the annual lifetime achievement awards for ‘contributions to the creation, growth and support of the arts in the United States [included]: Milton Glaser, graphic designer; Maya Lin, artist and designer; Rita Moreno, singer, dancer and actress; Jessye Norman, soprano; Joseph P. Riley Jr., arts patron, design advocate; Frank Stella, painter and sculptor; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; and John Williams, composer. Also honored were two organizations, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, and the School of American Ballet in New York City.”
Posted February 26, 2010
