National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal

John Hill

23. July 2014

Photo: Maria Biernik, National Endowment for the Humanities

Architects Tod Williams, Billie Tsien, and Johnpaul Jones will receive medals from President Barack Obama on July 28, 2014.

The National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) National Medal of Arts are awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups "who are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States."

New York-based architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams are recipients of 2013 medals "for their contributions to architecture and arts education." The official announcement continues: "Whether public or private, their deliberate and inspired designs have a profound effect on the lives of those who interact with them, and their teaching and spirit of service have inspired young people to pursue their passions."

The duo's eponymous firm focuses almost exclusively on institutional projects, particularly museums and schools. Their design for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia is their most well known project.

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects: The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. Photo © The Barnes Foundation

2013 National Medal of Arts

- Julia Alvarez, Novelist, Poet, and Essayist, Weybridge, VT
- Brooklyn Academy of Music, Presenter, Brooklyn, NY
- Joan Harris, Arts Patron, Chicago, IL
- Bill T. Jones, Dancer and Choreographer, Valley Cottage, NY
- John Kander, Musical Theater Composer, New York, NY
- Jeffrey Katzenberg, Director and CEO of DreamWorks, Beverly Hills, CA
- Maxine Hong Kingston, Writer, Oakland, CA
- Albert Maysles, Documentary Filmmaker, New York, NY
- Linda Ronstadt, Musician, San Francisco, CA
- Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, Architects, New York, NY
- James Turrell, Visual Artist, Flagstaff, AZ

Previous architecture-related recipients of the National Medal of the Arts, since the 1985 inauguration, include: Maya Lin (2009), Vincent Scully (2004), Lawrence Halprin (2002), Michael Graves (1999), Frank Gehry (1998), Dan Kiley (1997), Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown (1992), Pietro Belluschi (1991), Ian McHarg (1990), I.M. Pei (1988), and Lewis Mumford (1986).

The National Endowment for the Humanities' National Humanities Medal "honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens' engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects."

Johnpaul Jones, architect and founding partner of Bainbridge, Washington's Jones & Jones Architects + Landscape Architects + Planners, is a recipient of a 2013 medal. He is the first architect to receive a National Humanities Medal since its 1997 inauguration. Per the official announcement, Jones is being given the award "for honoring the natural world and indigenous traditions in architecture. A force behind diverse and cherished institutions, Mr. Jones has fostered awareness through design and created spaces worthy of the cultures they reflect, the communities they serve, and the environments they inhabit."

Jones & Jones website indicates they have completed more than 650 projects on five continents. Their portfolio excels in museums, cultural centers and heritage landscapes, many for native populations. One of the most striking is the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Igancio, Colorado.

Jones & Jones: Southern Ute Cultural Center & Museum. Photo: Scott Smith

2013 National Humanities Medal

- M.H. Abrams, Literary Critic, Ithaca, NY
- David Brion Davis, Historian, Orange, CT
- Darlene Clark Hine, Historian, Chicago, IL
- Anne Firor Scott, Historian, Chapel Hill, NC
- William Theodore De Bary, East Asian studies scholar, Tappan, NY
- Johnpaul Jones, Architect, Bainbridge, WA
- Stanley Nelson, Filmmaker, New York, NY
- Diane Rehm, Radio Host, Washington, D.C.
- Krista Tippett, Radio Host, St. Paul, MN
- American Antiquarian Society, Historical Organization, Worcester, MA

President Obama will award the 2013 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal in a ceremony in the White House's East Room on the afternoon of Monday, July 28, 2014.