It may not lead to the creation of a science-fiction saga with a great jazz and R&B score, or an operatic aria about the life of America’s 16th president, but George Lucas, Herb Alpert, Allen Toussaint, Renée Fleming and Tony Kushner will be among the artistic dignitaries invited to gather on Wednesday at the White House to receive the National Medal of Arts, it was announced on Monday. The award, which is managed by the National Endowment for the Arts, is regarded as the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence, and its winners are selected annually “based on their contributions to the creation, growth, and support of the arts in the United States,†the organization said in a news release.
In addition to Mr. Lucas, the filmmaker and “Star Wars†director; Mr. Alpert and Mr. Toussaint, the musicians and producers; Ms. Fleming, the soprano, and Mr. Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and “Lincoln†screenwriter, other honorees who will receive the National Medal of Arts from President Obama include the artist Ellsworth Kelly; the author Ernest Gaines and the writer, director and comedian Elaine May.
The arts honors will be presented in conjunction with the National Humanities Medals, which are managed by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and whose recipients include the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson, the former United States poet laureate Kay Ryan, the actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith and Joan Didion, the essayist, novelist and screenwriter.
The ceremony will take place Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and will be streamed online at wh.gov/live.
