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2017 Americans for the ArtsNational Arts Awards

Monday, October 23, 2017

Welcome from Carolyn Clark PowersChair, National Arts Awards

Arts Education AwardStudio in a School AssociationAccepted by Thomas Cahill

Presented by Darren Walker

Legacy AwardWilliam Lehr, Jr.Presented by Marian M. Warden

Philanthropy in the Arts AwardStefan Edlis and Gael NeesonPresented by Lisa Phillips

Remarks by Robert L. LynchPresident and CEO of Americans for the Arts

Dinner

Remarks by Sarah ArisonCo-Chair, National Arts Awards

Performance by YoungArts Alumni

Ted Arison Young Artist AwardAndra Day

Outstanding Contributions to the Arts AwardThelma GoldenPresented by Raymond McGuire

Carolyn Clark Powers Lifetime Achievement AwardClive DavisPresented by Dionne Warwick

Closing RemarksAbel Lopez, Chair,Americans for the Arts Board of Directors

and Robert L. Lynch and Carolyn Clark Powers

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Greetings from the Board Chair and President

It is our pleasure to welcome you to the 2017 presentation of Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Awards.

Our honorees tonight – three exceptional philanthropists, a groundbreaking non-profi t organization,

a social change agent, and two boundary-pushing artists – truly embody the mission and goals of

Americans for the Arts. They represent the depth and breadth of the arts community and the roles

we all can play in promoting access to all the arts for all the people in our country. Collectively their

excellence embodies that value and the success of the public-private partnership of arts support in America.

This has been an extraordinary year on many fronts. Although the non-profi t arts continue their

explosive growth, funding for the arts has been challenged more severely than in many years. Changing

times require innovative solutions to new challenges, and the arts play a critical role in building those

solutions. We had some good news earlier this year as our advocacy efforts paid off…so far… in the

fi ght to save the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and our nation’s other cultural agencies.

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, who have time and again understood the vital

value of the arts, voted to maintain funding for these institutions, rejecting a White House proposal to

eliminate them outright. This endorsement helps us continue our work as the federal budget work is

still not fi nalized for this year and will be challenged anew next year.

There is still much work to be done to encourage public and private support at the federal, state, and

local levels. Federal funding for the arts, even if maintained, still falls short. That is why we continue to

advocate for the arts to be federally supported at one dollar per capita, up from the current 46 cents,

which would increase federal funding and its leveraging power to over $300 million. As the most

recent iteration of our economic impact study, Arts and Economic Prosperity V, shows: non-profi t arts

and cultural organizations and their audiences in the United States are a $166.3 billion industry that

supports 4.6 million jobs and generates $27.5 billion in government revenue. Not only is the economic

impact of the arts profound and ever growing, but our research shows the majority of Americans

believe that the arts improve our communities, and are a “positive experience in a troubled world.”

Through our work, Americans for the Arts, is committed to healing and empowering our nation through

access to the arts. As Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation and a presenter this evening,

said this year as our 2017 Nancy Hanks Lecturer on Arts and Public Policy, “Without art, there is

no empathy. Without empathy, there is no justice.” We hope you enjoy an evening celebrating the

accomplishments of our honorees. Thank you for joining us tonight.

Abel Lopez Robert L. Lynch

Chair, Board of Directors President and CEO

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The National Arts Awards Chair

Dear Friends of Americans for the Arts,

I am happy to welcome you to the National Arts Awards in my third year serving as chair.

This is one of the few national events to recognize artists in all disciplines, and tonight we have

transformed our space at Cipriani’s with the art of Sarah Sze, who represented our nation at

the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. We are thrilled that her art is on view here tonight. She is a

ground-breaking artist with profound vision, whose work is as at home in a museum or private

collection as it is in the public realm.

I am pleased that our Lifetime Achievement award will go to Clive Davis – a legend in the music

industry. Through my involvement in the Grammy Foundation, I have witnessed how his impact

spans generations and musical genres. In addition to our mutual love of music, Clive shares my

commitment to education: his namesake institute at New York University’s Tisch School of the

Arts prepares the next generation of music producers with both business and artistic training.

Clive is also an advocate for countless humanitarian causes.

My good friends Gael Neeson and Stefan Edlis will receive our Philanthropy Award this evening.

They are deeply committed to artistic innovation and public programs in their hometown of

Chicago, and the city’s arts organizations have greatly benefited from their support. In 2015,

they gave a transformational gift of 42 works of Pop and contemporary art to the Art Institute

of Chicago – which was, and remains, the largest gift in the museum’s history. Their generosity

extends well beyond Chicago to their second hometown of Aspen, Colorado - where I have

known them for many years through our involvement in the Aspen Art Museum – and to other

institutions throughout the country and around the world.

Few organizations have had such impact in the field of arts education in New York City as the

Studio in a School Association, founded by beloved arts leader and patron Agnes Gund who

has devoted herself to a philanthropic life in service of arts education and social justice. We

are recognizing Studio as it celebrates 40 years of powerful work in the field, and are thrilled to

celebrate the expansion of their work outside New York. I look forward to watching them evolve

over the next 40 years!

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The National Arts Awards Chair

The Outstanding Contributions Award has always been given to an artist, but this year, for the first time,

we are breaking that trend. Thelma Golden’s work has gone far beyond her role as Director and Chief

Curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem – she is truly a cultural change agent. She has done so much

within New York City, and around the country, as a member of the Obama Foundation Board and, in

my neck of the woods, on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Americans for the Arts’ treasured board member, William Lehr, is this year’s Legacy Award honoree. Bill

is one of the longest-serving members of the board and has seen the organization through several pivotal

mergers which helped form Americans for the Arts as it exists today. His steady vision and business acumen,

gained through many years of board experience, have helped not only Americans for the Arts, but countless

organizations in his home state of Pennsylvania, navigate the daily challenges facing arts non-profits.

Andra Day is a stellar artist and impactful advocate for social justice. Tonight, we present her with the

Ted Arison Young Artist Award. Her hit song “Rise Up,” her reinterpretation of “Strange Fruit,” as well

as her recently released duet with Common, “Stand Up for Something,” are reminders of the power of

song to inspire and move us. We honor Andra for her incredible artistry and powerful voice – not only

onstage, but off-stage as well.

I am grateful to my co-chairs Sarah Arison, David and Susan Goode, Jeff and Justine Koons, Nora

Orphanides, and Marian Warden, in addition to the Benefit Committee, who have all worked so hard to

make tonight a success.

Finally, I want to thank all of you – without your support none of this would be possible. I am heartened

that, in a time of division, we – as supporters, lovers, and practitioners of the arts – can come together

to share and celebrate how the arts have touched us and our communities.

Carolyn Clark Powers

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Chair

Carolyn Clark Powers

Co-Chairs

Sarah Arison

David and Susan Goode

Justine and Jeff Koons

Nora C. Orphanides

Marian M. Warden

Benefit Committee

BVLGARI

Amy Cappellazzo

Jany and Charles Davenport

Lisa Dennison

Gail and Alfred Engelberg

Gordon and Llura Gund

Dorothy Lichtenstein

Timothy J. McClimon

Charles Segars

Nancy Stephens and Rick Rosenthal

Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee

Jamie and David Wolf

Benefit Committee

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Arts Education Award

The mission of Studio in a

School Association is to foster

the creative and intellectual

development of children and

youth through quality visual

arts programs directed by arts

professionals, and to collaborate with and develop the ability of

those who provide or support arts programming and creative

development both in and outside of schools. The association

realizes its mission through two organizations: the New York City

Schools Program and the Studio Institute.

Studio’s New York City Schools Program delivers in-class

instruction across multiple grades and through varied media,

primarily for students who otherwise would not have access to

a quality visual arts curriculum. It also expands the expertise of

classroom teachers while solidifying the important role of arts

education within their schools. This year, Studio is engaging

over 33,000 students and more than 2,000 teachers at 194

educational sites in New York City, 92% of which serve students

living in communities with high levels of poverty.

The Studio Institute undertakes research to identify and

document best practices in visual arts education; disseminates

Studio’s program models; and participates in field-wide

conversations about instructional strategies. The Institute is

currently engaged in citywide professional development for Pre-

Kindergarten teachers in support of New York City’s Pre-K for All

program, and is expanding Studio’s Arts Intern program for teens

and young adults into several other U.S. cities. It is also leading

a research project integrating Arts Education into Math, English

Language Arts and Technology curricula in four South Bronx

elementary schools.

These activities place Studio at the forefront of work to rebuild

and reinvigorate visual arts instruction in public schools with the

goal to provide skills-based arts experiences that advance the

lives and careers of students of all ages, as well as the dedicated

teachers who serve them.

Darren Walker, presenterDarren Walker is President of the Ford Foundation, the nation’s

second largest philanthropy, and for two decades has been a

leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. He led the

philanthropy committee that helped bring a resolution to the

city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy and chairs the U.S. Impact

Investing Alliance. Prior to joining Ford, he was Vice President

at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he managed the rebuild

New Orleans initiative after Hurricane Katrina. In the 1990s, as

COO of Harlem’s largest community development organization,

the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Mr. Walker oversaw a

comprehensive revitalization program resulting in over 1,000 new

units of housing, Harlem’s first commercial development in twenty

years, and New York’s first public school built and managed

by a community organization. He had a decade long career in

international law and finance at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

and UBS. He serves as a trustee of Carnegie Hall, New York

City Ballet, the High Line, the Arcus Foundation and PepsiCo.

Educated exclusively in public schools, Mr. Walker received the

“Distinguished Alumnus Award,” the highest honor given by his

alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. In 2016, TIME

magazine named him to its annual list of the “100 Most Influential

People in the World.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign

Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the

recipient of thirteen honorary degrees.

STUDIO IN A SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

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Legacy AwardWILLIAM LEHR, JR.

William Lehr, Jr. is a

respected, longtime arts

and community leader

in central Pennsylvania,

while also serving as an

esteemed national voice in

arts policy. He has served

on the boards of more than

30 non-profit and public-

private organizations, acting

as Chairman of the Board for

more than a dozen of them

at the national, state, and

regional levels. He provides

advice and assistance to a

wide range of regional boards and non-profit organizations.

Until 2016, Mr. Lehr was Chairman of the Board of Capital

BlueCross, a position he had held since 2004. He also served

as the organization’s CEO from 2008-2012 and as its president

from 2008-2010. Mr. Lehr was previously Senior Vice President,

Secretary, and Treasurer of Hershey Foods Corporation, from

which he retired in 1995 after a 28-year career. He also served

as the Lead Director of Hersha Hospitality Trust, a publicly traded

real estate investment trust.

As a community leader, Mr. Lehr holds, and has held, leadership

positions within multiple national and regional organizations,

including: Lebanon Valley College, where he previously served as

Chairman of the Board; Union Theological Seminary; Harrisburg

Symphony Association, where he is immediate past Chairman;

WITF Public Media, where he is also immediate past Chairman;

and the Susquehanna Art Museum, where he is serving his

second term as President of the Board. He is a director, Vice

Chairman, and former Chairman of Americans for the Arts,

where he currently chairs the Investment Committee, its PAC,

and its Foundation. He is Chairman of the Arts Partnership,

a collaboration between The Foundation for Enhancing

Communities and the Cultural Enrichment Fund. He is also

a member of the Advisory Board of The University of Notre

Dame’s Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business, the

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Pennsylvania Early

Learning Investment Commission. He was recently chair of the

Capital Campaign Committee for the Hamilton Health Center in

inner city Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In previous years, Mr. Lehr has served as Chairman of the

Foundation for Enhancing Communities, where he still serves as

a member of the Investment Advisory Committee; Chairman of

MetroArts of the Capital Region; Chairman of the Capital Division

of the Pennsylvania Economy League; Founding Director and

Vice Chairman of The Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts;

Founding Director of the Cultural Enrichment Fund; director of

the Pennsylvania Humanities Council; and as a board member of

numerous other non-profit organizations in central Pennsylvania.

Marian M. Warden, presenterMarian M. (Mim) Warden began her professional life as an

elementary school teacher, then a non-profit radio programmer

and announcer. She was the founding director of MetroArts, a

local arts agency in Harrisburg, PA, where William Lehr became

an active member, then Chair of the Board. Now based in New

York, Ms. Warden left Harrisburg to study Theology and the Arts

at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where she currently

serves as a Trustee. She is also the Board Chair of a new not-for-

profit organization seeking to restore a declining church in the

city, as a vibrant space for transformation through the arts and

community engagement.

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Philanthropy in the Arts Award STEFAN EDLIS AND GAEL NEESON

Gael Neeson and Stefan

Edlis are among the noted

collectors of contemporary

art in the world. A Holocaust

survivor, Mr. Edlis grew up in

Vienna, Austria, and came

to New York in 1941. He

served in the Navy in the

Second World War. After

being discharged in San

Francisco, he became a

tool maker before moving to

Chicago and founding Apollo

Plastics in 1965. Ms. Neeson

was born and educated in

Melbourne, Australia. She left Australia after college to travel the

world before coming to Chicago and Aspen, where she and Mr.

Edlis met and were married.

In 2007, Mr. Edlis and Ms. Neeson created the Edlis Neeson

Foundation to support the arts, communication, and outreach.

They have provided key funding to institutions and initiatives such

as the Aspen Art Museum; the Aspen Music Festival and School;

the Aspen Institute; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago;

the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Chicago Opera Theater; the Whitney

Museum of American Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum;

and the New Museum, where Ms. Neeson sits on the board. Mr.

Edlis is a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago,

and serves on the Board of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In 2015, Ms. Neeson and Mr. Edlis donated 44 works from

their collection, valued at $400 million, to the Art Institute of

Chicago. This remains the largest gift in the museum’s history.

These works were chosen by the Art Institute and comprised of

works from Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns,

Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman,

Richard Prince, Eric Fischl, Jeff Koons, Brice Marden, Charles

Ray, Damien Hirst, John Currin, Katharine Fritsch, and Takashi

Murakami. Their collection today is comprised of approximately

180 works by 40 artists. All works from their collection are on

display.

Lisa Phillips, presenterLisa Phillips has been the Toby Devan Lewis Director of the

New Museum since 1999. During her tenure, the museum

has grown into a major international cultural destination with

a roster of critically acclaimed exhibitions of artists including:

William Kentridge, Cildo Miereles, Paul Chan, George Condo,

Rosemarie Trockel, and Chris Ofill. The museum has also become

a nexus of innovation, with its educational programs; art and

technology initiatives; and platforms to explore expanded roles

for museums. Phillips conceived and realized a major expansion

of the museum’s first dedicated building, which opened on the

Bowery in 2007, and quickly became a catalyst for neighborhood

transformation. This inspired Phillips to found Ideas City, an

international festival on the future city, as well as NEW INC,

the first museum-led incubator for art, technology, and design.

The Museum just announced an expansion designed by Rem

Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu, which will break ground in

2019. Previously, Phillips was Curator at the Whitney Museum

of American Art where she organized over 20 exhibitions. She

has served on the boards of the Andy Warhol Foundation and

the American Association of Museum Directors, among others.

Phillips has authored numerous publications and lectured around

the world.

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Ted Arison Young Artist AwardANDRA DAY

Andra Day is an American

singer and songwriter known

for her boundless talent, as

well as her deep conviction

and commitment to social

and cultural change. Ms.

Day’s full-length debut

Cheers to the Fall garnered

a 2016 Grammy Award

nomination in the category

of “Best R&B Album,”

while its anthemic Platinum

lead single “Rise Up”

earned a nod for “Best

R&B Performance.” She

has appeared on: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ellen,

Dancing with the Stars, The View, Jimmy Kimmel Live, the White

House National Christmas Tree Lighting, Hallmark’s Home for the

Holiday’s, the CMA Country Christmas, and America’s Got Talent,

to name just a few. She recently appeared on The Daily Show with

Trevor Noah, where she debuted her interpretation of the seminal

song “Strange Fruit”, made famous by Billie Holiday, and spoke,

alongside the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, about the

history of lynching in America.

Recognized amongst some of music’s most legendary names,

Ms. Day has paid tribute to Ray Charles at The Smithsonian, and

has shared the stage with everyone from Chinese piano virtuoso

Lang Lang, Bonnie Raitt, and Stevie Wonder to Ellie Goulding,

Alicia Keys, and John Legend. She has performed at the 2016

Democratic National Convention and the launch of Michelle

Obama’s We Will Rise documentary in partnership with Meryl

Streep and Freida Pinto at the “International Day of the Girl”

event at The White House. Ms. Day has appeared on the cover

of Essence Magazine and was honored with the “Powerhouse

Award” at the Billboard Women in Music event.

2017 kicked off with two show-stopping performances: one at

the 48th Annual NAACP Image Awards, the other a knockout

Bee Gees tribute during the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

Hyatt welcomed Ms. Day as the voice of its “For A World Of

Understanding” campaign, breathing new life into the Burt

Bacharach and Hal David classic, “What The World Needs Now

Is Love.” She also voiced Sweet Tea in the summer blockbuster

Cars 3, covering Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days”. Closing

out 2017, Ms. Day released the moving anthem “Stand Up For

Something” (featuring Common) from the soundtrack of the film

Marshall. The movie also marks her on-screen debut.

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Thelma Golden is Director

and Chief Curator of

The Studio Museum in

Harlem, the world’s leading

institution devoted to visual

art by artists of African

descent. Ms. Golden

began her career as a

Studio Museum intern in

1987. In 1988, she joined

the Whitney Museum of

American Art, where she

launched her influential

curatorial practice. Over a

decade at the Whitney, she

organized numerous groundbreaking exhibitions, including

Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in American Art. She was also a member of the curatorial team for the 1993

Biennial.

In 2000, Ms. Golden returned to the Studio Museum as Deputy

Director for Exhibitions and Programs, working closely with

Director Lowery Stokes Sims. She succeeded Dr. Sims as

Director in 2005. Under her leadership, the Studio Museum has

gained increased renown as a global leader in the exhibition of

contemporary art, a center for innovative education, and a cultural

anchor in the Harlem community. Ms. Golden’s curatorial vision

has cemented the Museum as “one of New York City’s most

consistently stimulating and innovative art institutions,” according

to Holland Cotter of the New York Times. Her tenure as Director

has been characterized by a deep commitment to planning for

the Museum’s future. In 2015, the Studio Museum announced

plans to create a new facility, designed by Adjaye Associates in

conjunction with Cooper Robertson, on its current site in Harlem.

The new building will be the Studio Museum’s first purpose-built

facility since its founding in 1968.

Ms. Golden holds a B.A. in Art History and African American

Studies from Smith College and has received numerous honorary

doctorates. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Ms.

Golden to the Committee for the Preservation of the White

House, on which she served until 2016. She currently serves on

the Board of Directors for the Barack Obama Foundation and

the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a 2008 Henry

Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and in 2016 received the

Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence from the Center for

Curatorial Studies at Bard College. In 2015, she was appointed

as a Ford Foundation Art of Change Visiting Fellow. Ms. Golden

is a recognized authority in contemporary art by artists of African

descent and an active lecturer and panelist, speaking about

contemporary art and culture around the nation and the globe.

Raymond McGuire, presenterRaymond J. McGuire is Citi’s Global Head of Corporate and

Investment Banking (“CIB”). Mr. McGuire is a member of the

Institutional Clients Group Executive Committee, the Institutional

Clients Group Business Practices Committee, and is a Board

Member of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Mr. McGuire actively

leads and manages the CIB whose clients generate over $20

Billion of global revenue annually. He has personally advised

on transactions valued at over $600 Billion. Previously, Mr.

McGuire was the Global Co-Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at

Morgan Stanley, and has worked at Merrill Lynch; Wasserstein

Perella & Co.; and The First Boston Corp. In addition to serving

as Chairman of the Board at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Mr.

McGuire also serves on the boards of the American Museum of

Natural History, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,

De La Salle Academy, the Hotchkiss School, the New York City

Police Foundation, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the New York

Public Library, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He

received his M.B.A. & J.D. from Harvard Business School and

Harvard Law School and an A.B. from Harvard College.

Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award THELMA GOLDEN

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As the record industry’s most

innovative and influential

executive, Clive Davis has

had a profound effect on

the world of music. He

has earned four Grammys

in his role as album

producer, has received the

Grammy Trustees Lifetime

Achievement Award, was

inducted into the Rock and

Roll Hall of Fame in 2000,

and, in 2010, The Recording

Academy named The

Grammy Museum theatre in his honor.

Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Davis graduated from New York University

and Harvard Law School. He first worked at Columbia Records,

where he was named President in 1967. In 1974, Mr. Davis

founded Arista Records, and expanded the company to include

Arista Nashville in 1988. He continued his exploration of different

musical genres with the formation of LaFace Records in 1989,

and Bad Boy Records in 1994. In 2000, Mr. Davis formed J

Records, which quickly emerged as a dominant force in the

industry. In 2008, Mr. Davis was appointed Chief Creative Officer

for Sony Music Entertainment, a position which expanded the

number of artists for whom he was creatively responsible.

Mr. Davis has impacted the worlds of Pop, Rock and Roll,

R&B, Country and Hip-Hop, and has played a key role in the

careers of countless artists across those genres including:

Janis Joplin, Chicago, Santana, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen,

Aerosmith, Simon & Garfunkel, Sly & The Family Stone, Barbra

Streisand, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow,

Whitney Houston, Patti Smith, Sarah McLachlan, Aretha

Franklin, The Grateful Dead, Dionne Warwick, Carly Simon,

Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Toni Braxton, Sean “Puffy”

Combs, Notorious B.I.G., Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, Luther

Vandross, Rod Stewart, and Jennifer Hudson.

Since 1985, he has worked tirelessly in the battle against AIDS,

and has received humanitarian honors from organizations such as

the Anti-Defamation League, the American Cancer Society, and

the American Foundation for AIDS Research. In 2002, the Tisch

School of the Arts at New York University established The Clive

Davis Department of Recorded Music – the first four-year, degree-

granting undergraduate program that recognizes the creative

producer as an artist in his own right, and musical recording itself

as a creative medium. In 2011, the Department was expanded

into an Institute. A documentary based on Mr. Davis’ 2013 New

York Times bestselling autobiography, The Soundtrack of My Life

was released this month by Apple Music and opened to glowing

reviews.

Dionne Warwick, presenterDionne Warwick is a five-time Grammy Award-winning music

legend who has earned more than 75 charted hit songs and

sold over 100 million records. She was discovered by Burt

Bacharach and Hal David in 1961, and went on to record 18

consecutive Top 100 singles (“Don’t Make Me Over,” Walk on

By,” among the first). She received her first Grammy in 1968

for “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”. Ms. Warwick became

the first African-American solo female artist of her generation

to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female

Vocalist Performance.

In 1985, she participated in the recording of “That’s What

Friends Are For,” which became a number-one hit worldwide and

raised awareness and major funds for AIDS research, which she

continues to support, among other causes such as The Starlight

Foundation, children’s hospitals, world hunger, disaster relief, and

music education for which she has been honored and has raised

millions of dollars. Ms. Warwick also participated in the all-star

charity single, “We Are the World” and performed at “Live Aid.”

Ms. Warwick has been honored by AMFAR, the Desert Aids

Project, and Clive Davis at his pre-Grammy party. Ms. Warwick

was also inducted into The Grammy Museum where a special

50th Anniversary career exhibit was unveiled. Most recently,

Ms. Warwick released a star-studded duets album entitled,

“Feels So Good,” featuring collaborations with some of today’s

greatest artists.

Carolyn Clark Powers Lifetime Achievement AwardCLIVE DAVIS

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Performers

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted

Arison to identify and nurture the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary,

design and performing arts, and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and

professional development. The organization’s signature program is an application-based

award for emerging artists ages 15-18 or in grades 10-12 from across the United States.

Selected from a pool of more than an average of 11,000 applications (in 2015, the organization received a record-breaking number of more than 12,000

applications), YoungArts Winners receive valuable support, including fi nancial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences

working with renowned mentors—such as Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rebecca Walker, Plácido Domingo, Frank Gehry, Neil Patrick Harris, Jeff Koons,

Wynton Marsalis, Salman Rushdie and Carrie Mae Weems—and performance and exhibition opportunities at some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions.

YoungArts Winners become part of a thousands-strong alumni network of artists, which offers them additional professional opportunities throughout their

careers. YoungArts alumni who have gone on to become leading professionals in their fi elds include actresses Viola Davis, Anna Gunn, Zuzanna Szadkowski and

Kerry Washington; Broadway stars Raúl Esparza, Billy Porter, Andrew Rannells and Tony Yazbeck; recording artists Josh Groban, Judith Hill and Chris Young;

Metropolitan Opera star Eric Owens; musicians Terence Blanchard, Gerald Clayton, Jennifer Koh and Elizabeth Roe; choreographers Camille A. Brown and

Desmond Richardson; visual artists Daniel Arsham and Hernan Bas; internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Doug Aitken; New York Times bestselling author

Sam Lipsyte; and Academy Award-winning fi lmmaker Doug Blush.

Jake Goldbas, 2007 YoungArts Winner in Jazz, is a Grammy-nominated artist who has taken the music scene by storm. A respected

educator and clinician, Goldbas leads a band for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new education program Jazz for Young People and has

performed at the world’s most distinguished venues from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden. He is currently the drummer for

Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway.

Kate Davis, 2009 YoungArts Winner in Jazz, is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She moved to New York in 2009 to attend

the Manhattan School of Music and has performed at such illustrious venues as The Kennedy Center, The Bowery Ballroom, Lincoln

Center, and Carnegie Hall.

Nia Ashleigh Harris, 2017 YoungArts Winner in Voice, 16 year-old highschool senior, has been performing since she was 4 years old.

She made her Broadway debut at the age of 11 in Disney’s The Lion King and is a 2017 YoungArts winner in Popular Voice.

Jay Julio, 2015 YoungArts Winner in Music, is a student at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studies with Karen Ritscher, where

he is supported by the Virtu Foundation and the American Viola Society. He has been a prizewinner in competitions held by the National

Federation of Music Club and the Music Teachers National Association, among others.

Derek Louie, 2016 YoungArts Winner in Music, is a cellist in his freshman year at the Juilliard School studying with Joel Krosnick. Derek

spent eight years at the Juilliard Pre-College with Clara Kim. Derek wants to use the arts as a means of affecting change with respect to

how society views and treats mental illness.

Yaegy Park, 2015 YoungArts Winner in Music, is currently a third-year undergraduate at The Juilliard School. She enjoys participating

in chamber music and community outreach. She has worked in collaboration with Daniel’s Music and is currently a CLIMB and Gluck

Fellow at Juilliard.

Sam Reider, 2007 YoungArts Winner in Jazz, is an award-winning composer, accordionist, pianist, and singer making waves at the

intersection of Americana, jazz, and world music. His artistry is driven by an intense creativity, a passion for discovery, and a proven

ability to bring together people and communities from around the world.

Gabe Schnider, 2011 YoungArts Winner in Jazz, is a recent graduate of the Juilliard School, who performs a wide range of music with

a variety of different groups and has been featured at venues all over the world, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, the

Kennedy Center, and the Newport, Monterey, Montreux, Montreal, and Toronto International Jazz Festivals, as well as the 2016 American

Folk Festival and 2017 Vail International Dance Festival. He has performed with luminaries including Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Bell, Jon

Batiste and Stay Human, among others.

13

Featured ArtistSARAH SZE

Since the late 1990s,

internationally acclaimed

artist Sarah Sze has

developed a signature

visual language that

challenges the static nature

of sculpture. Ms. Sze draws

from Modernist traditions

of the found object and

dismantles them through

use of materials evoking

fl ux, transformation and

fragility. Her immersive and

intricate works question

the value society places on objects and how objects ascribe

meaning to the places and times we inhabit.

Ms. Sze’s work models and navigates the proliferation of

information in contemporary life. Her installations unfold like a

series of experiments that construct intimate systems of order.

Widely recognized for challenging the boundaries of painting,

installation and architecture, Ms. Sze’s sculptural practice ranges

from slight gestures discovered in hidden spaces to expansive

installations that scale walls.

Ms. Sze represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in

2013, and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2003, and

a Radcliffe Fellowship in 2005. She has exhibited in museums

worldwide, and her works are held in the permanent collections

of prominent institutions, including The Museum of Modern Art,

the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American

Art, New York; The Fondation Cartier, Paris; The Museum of

Contemporary Art, Chicago; The San Francisco Museum of

Modern Art; and the Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles. Sze’s

work has been featured in The Whitney Biennial, the Carnegie

International, and several international biennials, including Berlin,

Guangzhou, Liverpool, Lyon, São Paulo, and Venice. Ms. Sze

has also created public works for the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the High

Line in New York. In 2016, Ms. Sze completed a permanent

commission for the New York Metropolitan Transportation

Authority’s 2nd Avenue subway line, 96th Street station which

received a Public Art Network award from Americans for the Arts.

Ms. Sze was born in Boston, Massachusetts and lives and works

in New York City.

Balloon Rabbit Award

Jeff Koons, a member of the Americans for the Arts Artists Committee, designed the National Arts Awards Balloon

Rabbit award in 2009. One of the world’s most preeminent artists, Mr. Koons’s work has been widely exhibited and

is in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and

the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture

Garden in Washington, DC; The Eli Broad Family Foundation in Santa Monica, CA; the Tate Gallery in London; the

Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum; and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

in Bentonville, AK. In 2008, he was the fi rst contemporary artist to have his work installed at the Palais de Versailles

in France. A retrospective of Mr. Koons’ work, organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art is currently traveling

the globe. The Americans for the Arts National Arts Awards evokes both Mr. Koons’s iconic 1986 Rabbit sculpture as

well as the balloon forms of his Celebration Series and is truly a visual exemplifi cation of artistic “celebration!” We are

grateful to the artist and his studio for their generosity and support.

14

Studio in a School AssociationThomas Cahill

Barbara Cura

Ellen Emerson

Agnes Gund

Jeff Koons

Larry Levine

Dorothy Lichtenstein

The Noguchi Museum

Seijin Park

James R. Reynolds II

Jonas Stigh

William Lehr, Jr.Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

Daryl Bughman Photography

Heather Doughty

Vicki Dubuisson

Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra

Chris Guerrisi

Philip Horn

Sam Krepps

Pennsylvania Council

on the Arts

Alice Anne Schwab

Susquehanna Art Museum

Theatre Harrisburg

Marian M. Warden

Whitaker Center for Science & Arts

Jeff Woodruff

Stefan Edlis and Gael NeesonThe Art Institute of Chicago

Estate of Alexander Calder

Robert Carl

Maurizio Cattelan

Eric Fischl

Anthony Freud

Holly Gilson

Madeleine Grynsztejn

Amanda Hicks

Jasper Johns

Jeff Koons

Justine Koons

Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Karla Loring

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Brice Marden

Takashi Murakami

Museum of Contemporary Art,

Chicago

Richard Prince

Estate of Robert Rauschenberg

Charles Ray

Gerhard Richter

James Rondeau

Cindy Sherman

Estate of Cy Twombly

Estate of Andy Warhol

Andra Day42 West

Buskin Entertainment

Richard Channer

Common

Alexandra CrotinKaren Dupiche

Equal Justice Initiative

Jeffrey Evans

Good Morning America

Elise Mesa

Rosie Perez

Myriam Santos

Bryan Stevenson

Maki Somosot

Urban Arts Partnership

James Warren

Josh White

Thelma GoldenSaVonne Anderson

Adjaye Associates

Alani Bass

Mary Schmidt Campbell

Geoffrey Clements

Isoke Cullins

Joyce Davis

Ford Foundation

Amy Gadola

Elizabeth Gwinn

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

David Hammons

Texas Isaiah

Glenn Ligon

Adam Reich

Jessica Reynolds

Jarvis Ridges

Scott Rudd

Lorna Simpson

Julie Skarratt

Spelman College

Studio Museum in Harlem

Estate of Alma Thomas

Darren Walker

Jeanette Waters

Stanley Whitney

Whitney Museum of American Art

Kehinde Wiley

Fred Wilson

Clive DavisMichael Bernstein

Mariela Bradford

Sean Cassidy

Clive Davis Institute

of Recorded Music

Charles Ortner

Chris Perkel

Jeff Rabhan

Aliza Rabinoff

Kevin Sasaki

Sellers Webb

Sarah SzeMike Barnett

Yan Ma

Special Thanks Marilyn Bagel

Cipriani 42nd Street

Peggy Chapman

Crystal Cunningham

Mitch Curtis

DigiLink

Matt Eller, Afternoon Inc.

Jake Goldbas

Bianca Hirschowitz

Jeff Koons

Betsy Libretta

Gary McCraw

Jana and Larry Morales

Justin Morris, Morris Bureau

Nadine Johnson & Associates Inc.

National YoungArts Foundation

Emma Osore

Lauran Rothstein

Izzy Ruiz

Schmit Prototypes

Text Design, Inc.

TV Mambo

Wide Graphics, Inc.

Featured ArtSarah Sze(stage and journal cover image)

Timekeeper, 2016

Mixed media, mirrors, wood, stainless steel, archival pigment prints, projectors, lamps, desks, stools, stone

Dimensions variable

Installation view, Rose Museum of Art, 2016

Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery and Victoria Miro Gallery

Photo: Mike Barnett

Sarah Sze(lobby gallery)

Blueprint for a Landscape, 2016

Porcelain Tile

Dimensions Variable

New York 2nd Avenue Subway line, 96th Street Station, 2016

Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery and Victoria Miro Gallery

Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

Credits and Special Thanks

15

I am delighted to again be engaged with Americans for the Arts serving as the chair of the National Arts Awards, and I am proud

to lend my name to the award for lifetime achievement.

I was raised in a family immersed in American music history. My ancestral home, Dockery Farms in the Mississippi Delta, is

recognized by the National Register of Historic Places for its role in the creation of blues music. Musicians who once lived on the

farm or had a presence in the community include Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and the late, great B.B. King, who

I helped connect with Americans for the Arts when he received our Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. The farm remains a

vibrant place of pilgrimage for musicians and enthusiasts alike.

From this musical foundation, I grew to passionately embrace all forms of the arts, and I am a strong champion for arts education.

Because of this, I was thrilled at the opportunity to support the National Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement.

This award has gone to recipients from every arts discipline and to such luminaries as opera singer Beverly Sills, the

choreographer Paul Taylor, architect Frank O. Gehry, the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, actor/director Robert Redford, visual artist

John Baldessari, film legend Sophia Loren, and last year, the incomparable Tony Bennett.

I am so pleased that this year the award bearing my name goes to another legend in the music industry: Clive Davis. His

contributions to the world of popular music, arts education, and social justice, are truly remarkable.

Carolyn Clark Powers

Carolyn Clark Powers Lifetime Achievement Award

16

I am so pleased to have the opportunity to name this award after my late grandfather, Ted Arison. He and my grandmother, Lin,

were visionaries back in 1981 when they founded the National YoungArts Foundation. Their idea was to identify and support

the next generation of young artists in the visual, literary, design, and performing arts, assisting them at critical junctures in

their development. To date, YoungArts has provided more than 20,000 alumni with access to significant scholarships, national

recognition, and opportunities to study with renowned mentors.

The involvement of YoungArts with Americans for the Arts and the National Arts Awards goes back to 2009 when alumni and

students from our program became the featured performers at the event. The ceremony is a wonderful opportunity for these

young artists to shine in front of an audience of true arts enthusiasts. And I note with pride that several National Arts Awards

honorees have been associated with YoungArts, including my grandmother, Lin Arison, who received the Arts Education Award in

2012, and alumni Josh Groban and Kerry Washington, who are past recipients of the Young Artist Award.

We applaud Americans for the Arts for ensuring that young artists are expressly honored for their achievements, right alongside

the established artists who have made a lifetime of contributions to our country’s cultural landscape.

On behalf of the Arison Arts Foundation, I congratulate the amazing Andra Day as this year’s recipient of the award named for my

grandfather.

Sarah Arison

President, Arison Arts Foundation

Ted Arison Young Artist Award

17

Past Honorees

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Marian Anderson §

Dame Julie Andrews

Richard Avedon

George Balanchine §

John Baldessari

Tony Bennett ~

Leonard Bernstein §

Hume Cronyn §

Agnes DeMille §

Aretha Franklin

Frank O. Gehry

Martha Graham §

Helen Hayes §

Ellsworth Kelly

B.B. King +

Lincoln Kirstein §

Thomas Krens

Jacob Lawrence

Angela Lansbury

Sophia Loren ~

Richard Meier

Arthur Mitchell §

Jessye Norman §

William Paley §

Joseph Papp §

Itzhak Perlman §

Robert Redford

Jason Robards §

James Rosenquist +

Richard Serra

Beverly Sills §

Neil Simon §

Stephen Sondheim §

Frank Stella+

Isaac Stern §

Jessica Tandy §

Billy Taylor §

Paul Taylor

Lila Acheson Wallace §

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARTS Doug Aitken

Edward Albee ‡

Herb Alpert

American Legion Auxiliary

Richard Avedon ‡

Will Barnet ‡

Mikhail Baryshnikov ‡

Harry Belafonte ‡

Chuck Close ‡

Betty Comden & Adolph

Green ‡

Barbara Cook ‡

Merce Cunningham ‡

Anna Deavere Smith ‡

Renée Fleming ‡

Herbie Hancock

Hugh Hardy ‡

Kitty Carlisle Hart

Al Hirschfeld ‡

Jenny Holzer

Judith Jamison ‡

Peter Martins ‡

Yoko Ono ‡

Nam June Paik ‡

Gordon Parks ‡

James Stewart Polshek ‡

Harold Prince ‡

Robert Rauschenberg ‡

Salman Rushdie ‡

Martin Scorsese ‡

Joel Shapiro

Beverly Sills ‡

Brian Stokes Mitchell

Paul Taylor ‡

Twyla Tharp ‡

ARTS ADVOCACY Alec Baldwin

Hillary Clinton

Chuck Close

Michael Greene, National

Academy of Recording

Arts & Sciences

Phil Ramone

Christopher Reeve

Wendy Wasserstein

ARTS EDUCATIONLin Arison, YoungArts

Martina Arroyo, artist

William Bassell,

public school principal

Alberto M. Carvalho,

public school

superintendent

Schuyler Chapin, civic leader

Pierre Dulaine & Yvonne

Marceau, American

Ballroom Theater

Midori Goto, artist

Agnes Gund, philanthropist

Wynton Marsalis, artist

Arthur Mitchell, artist

The Mr. Holland’s Opus

Foundation

P.S. ARTS

President’s Committee on the

Arts and the Humanities

Alice Walton

ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Jeff Koons

Peter Martins

Ed Ruscha

Cindy Sherman

Kirk Varnedoe,

Memorial Tribute

Pinchas Zukerman,

Isaac Stern Award, Excellence Classical Music

CORPORATE HONOREES American Express

Amerindo Investment

Advisors

AT&T

AXA Art Insurance

Corporation

Bank of America

Citigroup, Inc.

FleetBoston

Financial Corporation

General Electric

The Hearst Corporation

IBM Corporation

JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Lockheed Martin

The McGraw-Hill Companies

MetLife

Music Industry and NAMM

NationsBank

Principal Financial Group

Procter & Gamble

Target Corporation

Texaco Inc.

Time Warner

United Technologies

Corporation

VH1

Wells Fargo & Company

INDIVIDUAL PHILANTHROPY Paul G. Allen**

Wallis Annenberg*

Brooke Astor

Eli Broad*

Sidney Harman*

Joan W. Harris*

Martha Rivers Ingram**

Joan and Irwin Jacobs

Sheila C. Johnson*

Teresa Heinz Kerry*

Jo Carole Lauder

Raymond Nasher*

John and Mary Pappajohn**

David Rockefeller*

Vicki and Roger Sant**

Beverley Taylor Sorenson**

Roselyne Chroman Swig

LEGACY Maria Arena Bell

Madeleine H. Berman

Susan and David Goode

SPECIAL RECOGNITION Representative John Brademas

Bravo Television,

Excellence in Arts & Media

Representative

Amory Houghton, Jr.

Mike Jordan, CBS,

Outstanding Vision and

Exemplary Contributions

to the Arts

Institute for Museum and

Library Sciences, In Honor

of 25 Years of Service

National Endowment for the

Arts, In Honor of 40 years

of Service

Representative Jerrold Nadler

United States Conference of

Mayors, In Honor of its

75th Anniversary

YOUNG ARTISTSofia Coppola

Dakota Fanning

Lady Gaga

Josh Groban

Jake Gyllenhaal

David Hallberg

John Legend

Kate and Laura Mulleavy,

Rodarte

Natalie Portman

Gabourey Sidibe

Esperanza Spalding^

Mena Suvari

Uma Thurman

Kerry Washington

Kehinde Wiley

FEATURED ARTIST Will Cotton

Salvador Dali

Todd Eberle

Jeff Koons

Sol LeWitt

Kerry James Marshall

Julie Mehretu

Robert Rauschenberg

Kelly Richardson

Ed Ruscha

Kenny Scharf

Jennifer Steinkamp

Frank Stella

Andy Warhol

§ Arnold Gingrich Memorial

Award

‡ Kitty Carlisle Hart Award

* Frederick R. Weisman

Award for Philanthropy in

the Arts

** Eli and Edythe Broad

Award for Philanthropy in

the Arts

Bell Family Foundation

Young Artist Award

^Ted Arison Young Artist

Award

+ Isabella and Theodor

Dalenson Lifetime

Achievement Award

~ Carolyn Clark Powers

Lifetime Achievement

Award

18

Americans for the Arts Board of Directors

CHAIR

Abel Lopez

GALA Hispanic Theatre

Washington, DC

SECRETARY

Michael Spring

Miami-Dade County

Department of Cultural Affairs

Miami, FL

TREASURER

Julie Muraco

Praeditis Group LLC

New York, NY

VICE CHAIRS

Ramona Baker

Ramona Baker Consulting,

Master of Arts in Arts

Administration Program,

Goucher College

Indianapolis, IN

Maria Arena Bell

Vitameatavegamin Productions

Los Angeles, CA

John Haworth

National Museum of the

American Indian

New York, NY

William Lehr, Jr.

Capital Blue Cross

Hershey, PA

Timothy McClimon

American Express Foundation

New York, NY

Steven D. Spiess

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Denver, CO

AT LARGE

Susan S. Goode

Arts Patron

Norfolk, VA

Dorothy Pierce McSweeny

DC Commission on the

Arts and Humanities

Washington, DC

Margie Johnson Reese

Wichita Falls Alliance for

Arts and Culture

Wichita Falls, TX

Charmaine Warmenhoven

Warmenhoven Foundation

Monte Sereno, CA

DIRECTORS

Sarah Arison

Arison Arts Foundation

New York, NY

Leslie Blanton

Arts Patron

Houston, TX

Charles X Block

Bedrock Group LLC

Philadelphia, PA

Michelle Boone

Navy Pier, Inc.

Chicago, IL

Alessandra DiGiusto

Deutsche Bank

Americas Foundation

New York, NY

Floyd W. Green, III

Aetna, Inc.

Hartford, CT

Vijay Gupta

LA Philharmonic

Los Angeles, CA

Glen S. Howard

The Pew Charitable Trust

Washington, DC

Deborah Jordy

Colorado Business

Committee for the Arts

Denver, CO

Charles B. Ortner

Proskauer Rose LLP

Los Angeles, CA

Felix Padrón

Arts Administrator

San Antonio, TX

Carolyn Powers

Arts Patron

Manhattan Bech, CA

Barbara S. Robinson

Arts Patron

Cleveland, OH

Edgar L. Smith, Jr.

World Pac Paper, LLC

Cincinnati, OH

Tommy Sowers, Ph.D

U.S. Army

Solo

Chapel Hill, NC

Ann Stock

Women in Foreign Policy

Alexandria, VA

Nancy Stephens

Actress and Activist

Los Angeles, CA

Ty Stiklorius

Friends At Work

Venice, CA

Michael S. Verruto

HPI Capital LLC

Charlotte, NC

EX-OFFICIO

Robert L. Lynch

Americans for the Arts

Washington, DC

IN MEMORIAM

Peggy Amsterdam

Peter Donnelly

EMERITUS

Madeleine H. Berman

C. Kendric Fergeson

Fred Lazarus IV

19

Americans for the Arts Artists Committee

Doug Aitken

Jane Alexander

Kwaku Alston

Dame Julie Andrews

Martina Arroyo

Paul Auster

Bob Balaban

John Baldessari

Alec Baldwin

Tony Bennett

Lewis Black

Lauren Bon

Amy Brenneman

Connie Britton

Blair Brown

Kate Burton

Chuck Close

Will Cotton

Chuck D

Jacques d’Amboise

Carla Dirlikov Canales

Fran Drescher

Pierre Dulaine

Todd Eberle

Hector Elizondo

Giancarlo Esposito

Shepard Fairey

Suzanne Farrell

Laurence Fishburne

Ben Folds

Hsin-Ming Fung

Frank O. Gehry

Marcus Giamatti

Josh Groban

Vijay Gupta

David Hallberg

Hill Harper

Craig Hodgetts

Lorin Hollander

Jenny Holzer

Siri Hustvedt

David Henry Hwang

Melina Kanakaredes

Moisés Kaufman

Kenna

Jon Kessler

Richard Kind

Jeff Koons

Swoosie Kurtz

Norman Lear

Ledisi

John Legend

Liz Lerman

Glenn Ligon

John Lithgow

Graham Lustig

Kyle MacLachlan

Yo-Yo Ma

Yvonne Marceau

Peter Martins

Marlee Matlin

Kathy Mattea

Trey McIntyre

Julie Mehretu

Richard Meier

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Arthur Mitchell

Brian Stokes Mitchell

Walter Mosley

Paul Muldoon

Kate Mulleavy

Laura Mulleavy

Matt Mullican

Shirin Neshat

Alessandro Nivola

Naomi Shihab Nye

Richard On

Yoko Ono

Harold Prince

Robert Redford

Michael Ritchie

Marc Roberge

Victoria Rowell

Salman Rushdie

Martin Scorsese

Laramie “Doc” Shaw

Cindy Sherman

Gabourey Sidibe

Anna Deavere Smith

Arnold Steinhardt

Meryl Streep

Holland Taylor

Julie Taymor

Marlo Thomas

Stanley Tucci

Ben Vereen

Leo Villareal

Edward Villella

Clay Walker

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Kerry Washington

William Wegman

Bradley Whitford

Kehinde Wiley

Henry Winkler

Joanne Woodward

Kulapat Yantrasast

Peter Yarrow

Michael York

IN MEMORIAM

Theodore Bikel

Ossie Davis

Patty Duke

Mary Rodgers Guettel

Skitch Henderson

Arthur Hiller

Paul Newman

Leonard Nimoy

John Raitt

Lloyd Richards

Billy Taylor

Wendy Wasserstein

20

About Americans for the Arts

Founded in 1960, Americans for the Arts is the

nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing

the arts and arts education. We are dedicated to

representing and serving local communities and to

creating opportunities for every American to participate

in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Each year,

Americans for the Arts provides a rich array of programs that meet the

needs of more than 150,000 members and stakeholders.

For more information about our programs or to learn how you

can become more involved in our work, please visit us online at

www.AmericansForTheArts.org or contact us at 202.371.2830 or

212.223.2787.

Artists Committee Member Ben Folds

speaks at a Summer Advocacy Fly-In

supporting the launch of Americans

for the Arts’ Arts and Economic

Prosperity 5 study.

Javier Gonzalez, Mayor of Santa Fe,

presents at the 2017 National Arts

Policy Roundtable in Sundance, Utah.

Singer and songwriter Esperanza Spalding accepts the

Ted Arison Young Artist Award at the 2016 National Arts

Awards.

National Arts Policy Roundtable Fellow Braxton Cook

performs at the 2017 National Arts Policy Roundtable in

Sundance, Utah.

President and CEO Robert L. Lynch kicks off Arts

Advocacy Day 2017.

Music producer Sol Guy speaks at the 2017 National Arts

Policy Roundtable in Sundance, Utah.

Artists Committee and Board Member Brian Stokes

Mitchell, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker,

Artists Committee Member Anna Deavere Smith, Artists

Committee Member Ben Vereen, Actress Gabrielle Ruiz,

and Board Member Edgar Smith, at the 2017 Post-Hanks

Lecture Dinner during Arts Advocacy Day.

Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of

the Equal Justice Initiative, delivers the keynote address

at Americans for the Arts’ 2017 Annual Convention in

San Francisco.

CONGRATULATIONS

TO THIS YEARS

NATIONAL

ARTS AWARDS

HONOREES

Carolyn Clark Powers

We applaud Americans for the Arts for more than 55 years

of ensuring that arts and arts education are available to all!

– Gael Neeson and Stefan Edlis

Congratulations!

CLIVE J. DAVISTisch Dean's Council,

NYU Alumnus, Friend & Namesake Founder of the

Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music

We are grateful for your leadership and generosity.

We salute you!

Dean Allyson Green& All Your Fans

Thank you Americans for the Arts for taking a stand for the arts.

We are proud to stand with you, and congratulate this year’s exceptional honorees.

Sarah Arison

My congratulations and support to

Americans for the Artsin honoring

THELMA GOLDEN &

STUDIO IN A SCHOOL&

Clive Davis, Gael Neeson and Stefan EdlisWilliam Lehr, Jr., Andra Day and Sarah Sze

who have done so much to make a diff erence through the arts

With much gratitudeAgnes Gund

Congratulations to Americans for the Arts and

the 2017 National Arts Awards honorees.

Your work in and on behalf of the arts are needed and appreciated now more than ever.

The Rosenthal Family Foundation, Rick Rosenthal and Nancy Stephens, Jane Stephens Rosenthal, and

Jamie Rosenthal Wolf and David Wolf

We congratulate tonight’s honorees and applaud

Americans for the Arts

for their dedicated leadership and

tireless support of the arts in America

Congratulations to Studio in a School for 40 years of inspiring and serving

the New York City Public Schools and its students

Roy Lichtenstein Foundation

In Warm Memory ofJohn Moran

Producer of the National Arts Awards

from 1999 – 2016

ClevelandArt.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art

is proud to congratulate Studio

in a School. Your mission to provide

public school students with

access to an exceptional arts

education is truly an inspiration.

Americans for the Arts Congratulates

Robert L. Lynch on his 32nd year as our President and CEO

10.22.18

Save the Date

for the 2018 National Arts Awards

Congratulations to

Carolyn Clark Powers with Affection and Gratitude

from the Board and Staff of Americans for the Arts