Edward MacDowell Medal

The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by The MacDowell Colony, the first artist residency program in the United States.

Background

The award is named for composer Edward MacDowell, who, with pianist Marian MacDowell, his wife, founded The MacDowell Colony in 1907. The Colony exists to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which to produce enduring works of the imagination.[1] Each year, MacDowell welcomes more than 300[2][3] architects, composers, filmmakers, interdisciplinary artists, theatre artists, visual artists, and writers from across the United States and around the globe[4]

History of the award

Established in 1960 with the first award going to Thornton Wilder, the award is given to one artist each year, from among seven artistic disciplines, "architecture, visual art, music composition, theater, writing, filmmaking and interdisciplinary art."[5]

Composer Aaron Copland was the second recipient of the award in 1961. Copland had been a resident of the artist's colony eight times between 1925 and 1956, and served as the MacDowell Colony's president from 1962 to 1968.[6]

Painter Georgia O'Keeffe received the award in 1972. O'Keeffe, who was then 84 years old, decided not to attend, and asked art historian Lloyd Goodrich to accept the award on her behalf. Goodrich explained that O'Keeffe believed that her paintings were more important than her words. [7]

When writer Mary McCarthy won the award in 1984, The New York Times sent culture reporter Samuel G. Freedman to Peterborough to interview McCarthy and cover the ceremony. McCarthy commented that if she knew that her nemesis, writer Lillian Hellman had won the award in 1976, she would have "probably not" accepted it. [8] McCarthy conceded that the fact that her former husband, writer Edmund Wilson, had received the award in 1964 lent credibility to the honor.

Composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein won the award in 1987. Bernstein observed that it was the first award he had received solely for musical composition. Bernard Holland, writing in The New York Times, noted that Bernstein had "made full use of the quiet and solitude of this venerable refuge for artists" three times previously, having been a resident there in 1962, 1970 and 1972.[9]

Award winner and writer William Styron spoke at the 1988 awards ceremony. He said that the group of previous winners "represents the brightest constellation of American talent that could be assembled in the latter half of this century", and that "their work has been of supreme value to the world".[10]

Composer Stephen Sondheim, who won the award in 2013, was the first winner with a background in musical theater.[11]

When California artist Betye Saar won the 2014 award, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times commented that she was "joining an elite roster of honorees."[5]

Jazz composer and musician Gunther Schuller was scheduled to receive the 2015 award on his 90th birthday.[12] However, Schuller died June 21, 2015 before he could receive the award.[13]

Medal Day

The Edward MacDowell Medal[14] has been awarded during a free, public ceremony at The MacDowell Colony grounds in Peterborough, NH, to such figures as Aaron Copland (1961), Robert Frost (1962), Georgia O’Keeffe (1972), Leonard Bernstein (1987),[9] Stephen Sondheim (2013), and Betye Saar (2014). MacDowell Colony Chairman, Fellow, and author Michael Chabon, hosts the ceremony typically held on the second Sunday in August beginning at noon. Following the award ceremony, guests can have picnic lunches before open studio tours, which are hosted by MacDowell artists-in-residence.

List of recipients and speakers

YearMedalistSpeaker
1960Thornton WilderEdward Weeks
1961Aaron CoplandIrving Kolodin
1962Robert FrostAaron Copland
1963Alexander CalderMeyer Shapiro
1964Edmund WilsonAaron Copland
1965Edgard VareseMilton Babbitt
1966Edward HopperLloyd Goodrich
1967Marianne MooreGlenn Wescott
1968Roger SessionsEdward T. Cone
1969Louise NevelsonJohn Canaday
1970Eudora WeltyElizabeth Janeway
1971William SchumanAaron Copland
1972Georgia O’KeeffeEric Larrabee
1973Norman MailerJohn Leonard
1974Walter PistonMichael Steinberg
1975Willem de KooningDore Ashton
1976Lillian HellmanJohn Hersey
1977Virgil ThomsonAlfred Frankenstein
1978Richard DiebenkornJohn Canaday
1979John CheeverElizabeth Hardwick
1980Samuel BarberCharles Wadsworth
1981John UpdikeWilfred Sheed
1982Isamu NoguchiWilliam Lieberman
1983Elliott CarterMichael Steinberg
1984Mary McCarthyElizabeth Hardwick
1985Robert MotherwellVarujan Boghosian
1986Lee Friedlander[9][15]John Szarkowski
1987Leonard Bernstein[9]Ned Rorem
1988William StyronGeorge Plimpton
1989Stan BrakhageJohn Hanhardt
1990Louise BourgeoisRobert Storr
1991David DiamondJoseph Polisi
1992Richard WilburRichard Howard
1993Harry CallahanAnne Tucker
1994Jasper JohnsKirk Varnedoe
1995George CrumbChristopher Rouse
1996Joan DidionElizabeth Hardwick
1997Chuck JonesJohn Canemaker
1998I. M. PeiJ. Carter Brown
1999Ellsworth KellyJames Cuno
2000Lou HarrisonDennis Russell Davies
2001Philip RothWilliam Styron
2002Robert FrankPhilip Brookman
2003Merce CunninghamMeredith Monk
2004Nam June PaikJohn Hanhardt
2005Steve ReichDavid Lang and Richard Serra
2006Alice MunroVirginia Barber
2007Les BlankFrederick Wiseman
2008Thom MayneRobert Campbell
2009Kiki SmithLynne Tillman
2010Sonny RollinsGary Giddins
2011Edward AlbeeMike Nichols
2012Nan GoldinLuc Sante
2013Stephen SondheimFrank Rich
2014Betye SaarLowery Stokes Sims
2015Gunther Schuller (posthumous)Yehudi Wyner and Terrance McKnight
2016Toni MorrisonPeter Sellars
2017David LynchKristine McKenna

References

  1. ↑ "The MacDowell Colony". ResArtis: worldwide network of artist residencies. ResArtis. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Artists Retreat into Solitude at MacDowell Colony". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Artists and Works Supported by MacDowell". MacDowell Colony. MacDowell Colony. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "History of MacDowell Colony". MacDowell Colony. MacDowell Colony. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 Boehm, Mike. "L.A. artist Betye Saar wins art colony medal, joining elite club". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Rausch, Robin. "A Century of Creativity: The MacDowell Colony, 1907-2007". Information Bulletin. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Reily, Nancy Hopkins (2009). Georgia O'Keeffe, a Private Friendship: Walking the Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch land. Sunstone Press. pp. 426–428. ISBN 9780865344525.
  8. ↑ Freedman, Samuel G. (August 27, 1984), "McCarthy Is Recipient of MacDowell Medal", The New York Times, retrieved July 4, 2015
  9. 1 2 3 4 Holland, Bernard. "Bernstein Wins MacDowell Medal". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  10. ↑ Styron, William (2015). My Generation: Collected Nonfiction. Random House. ISBN 9780812997064.
  11. ↑ "Stephen Sondheim honoured with Edward MacDowell medal". BBC News. August 12, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ Shanahan, Mark (April 14, 2015). "Gunther Schuller to receive prestigious honor at MacDowell Colony". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ Schudel, Matt (June 22, 2015). "Gunther Schuller, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who bridged jazz and classical music, dies at 89". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Medal Day". MacDowell Colony. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "MacDowell Medal winners 1960-2011". London: The Daily Telegraph. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
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