List of recipients of the National Medal of Arts
Recipients of the National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts was first awarded in 1985. It was most recently awarded in 2015.

List of recipients of the National Medal of Arts

Section Title: Recipients of the National Medal of Arts
Table Section Text: The National Medal of Arts was first awarded in 1985. It was most recently awarded in 2015.

Year	Name	Area of Achievement

1985	Elliott Carter Jr.	composer

Ralph Ellison	writer

Jose Ferrer	actor

Martha Graham	dancer, choreographer

Louise Nevelson	sculptor

Georgia O'Keeffe	painter

Leontyne Price	soprano

Dorothy Buffum Chandler	arts patron

Lincoln Kirstein	arts patron

Paul Mellon	arts patron

Alice Tully	arts patron

Hallmark Cards, Inc.	corporate arts patron

1986	Marian Anderson	contralto singer

Frank Capra	film director

Aaron Copland	composer

Willem de Kooning	painter

Agnes de Mille	choreographer

Eva Le Gallienne	actress, director, author

Alan Lomax	folklorist, scholar

Lewis Mumford	philosopher, literary critic

Eudora Welty	writer

Dominique de Menil	arts patron

Exxon Corporation	corporate arts patron

Seymour H. Knox II	arts patron

1987	Romare Bearden	painter

Ella Fitzgerald	singer

Howard Nemerov	writer, scholar

Alwin Nikolais	dancer, choreographer

Isamu Noguchi	sculptor

William Schuman	composer

Robert Penn Warren	writer, poet

J. W. Fisher	arts patron

Armand Hammer	arts patron

Sydney Lewis	arts patron

1988	Saul Bellow	writer

Helen Hayes	actress

Gordon Parks	photographer, film director

I.M. Pei	architect

Jerome Robbins	dancer, choreographer

Rudolf Serkin	pianist

Virgil Thomson	composer, music critic

Sydney J. Freedberg	art historian, curator

Roger L. Stevens	arts administrator

Brooke Astor	arts patron

Francis Goelet	music patron

Obert Clark Tanner	arts patron

1989	Leopold Adler	preservationist, civic leader

Katherine Dunham	dancer, choreographer

Alfred Eisenstaedt	photographer

Martin Friedman	museum director

Leigh Gerdine	arts patron, civic leader

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie	jazz trumpeter

Walker Hancock	sculptor

Vladimir Horowitz	pianist (posthumous)

Czesław Miłosz	writer

Robert Motherwell	painter

John Updike	writer

Dayton Hudson Corporation	corporate arts patron

1990	George Abbott	producer

Hume Cronyn	actor

Jessica Tandy	actress

Merce Cunningham	choreographer & dance company director

Jasper Johns	painter & sculptor

Jacob Lawrence	painter

Riley "B.B." King	blues musician

David Lloyd Kreeger	arts patron

Harris & Carroll Sterling Masterson	arts patrons

Ian McHarg	landscape architect

Beverly Sills	opera singer

Southeastern Bell Corporation	corporate arts patron

1991	Maurice Abravanel	music director & conductor

Roy Acuff	country singer

Pietro Belluschi	architect

J. Carter Brown	museum director

Charles "Honi" Coles	tap dancer

John O. Crosby	opera director, conductor, administrator

Richard Diebenkorn	painter

R. Philip Hanes	arts patron

Kitty Carlisle Hart	actress, singer & arts administrator

Pearl Primus	choreographer & anthropologist

Isaac Stern	violinist

Texaco Inc.	corporate arts patron

1992	Marilyn Horne	opera singer

James Earl Jones	actor

Allan Houser	sculptor

Minnie Pearl	comedian

Robert Saudek	television producer, Museum of Broadcasting founding director

Earl Scruggs	banjo player

Robert Shaw	orchestra conductor, choral director

Billy Taylor	jazz pianist

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown	architects

Robert Wise	director

AT&T Inc.	corporate arts patron

Lila Wallace (Reader's Digest Fund)	foundation arts patron

1993	Walter and Leonore Annenberg	arts patrons

Cabell "Cab" Calloway	singer & bandleader

Ray Charles	singer & musician

Bess Lomax Hawes	folklorist

Stanley Kunitz	poet & educator

Robert Merrill	baritone

Arthur Miller	playwright

Robert Rauschenberg	artist

Lloyd Richards	theatrical director

William Styron	writer

Paul Taylor	dancer & choreographer

Billy Wilder	director, writer & producer

1994	Harry Belafonte	singer & actor

Dave Brubeck	jazz musician

Celia Cruz	singer

Dorothy DeLay	violin teacher

Julie Harris	actress

Erick Hawkins	choreographer

Gene Kelly	actor & dancer

Pete Seeger	composer, lyricist, vocalist, banjo player

Catherine Filene Shouse	arts patron

Wayne Thiebaud	artist, teacher

Richard Wilbur	poet, teacher, critic, literary translator

Young Audiences	arts presenter

1995	Licia Albanese	opera singer

Gwendolyn Brooks	poet

B. Gerald and Iris Cantor	arts patrons

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee	actors

David Diamond	composer

James Ingo Freed	architect

Bob Hope	entertainer

Roy Lichtenstein	painter, sculptor

Arthur Mitchell	dancer, choreographer

Bill Monroe	bluegrass musician

Urban Gateways	arts education organization

1996	Edward Albee	playwright

Sarah Caldwell	opera conductor

Harry Callahan	photographer

Zelda Fichandler	theater director, producer, educator

Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero	composer, musician

Lionel Hampton	musician, bandleader

Bella Lewitzky	dancer, choreographer, teacher

Vera List	arts patron

Robert Redford	actor, director, producer

Maurice Sendak	writer, illustrator, designer

Stephen Sondheim	composer, lyricist

Boys Choir of Harlem	performing arts youth group

1997	Louise Bourgeois	sculptor

Betty Carter	jazz vocalist

Agnes Gund	arts patron

Daniel Urban Kiley	landscape architect

Angela Lansbury	actress

James Levine	opera conductor, pianist

Tito Puente	Latin percussionist, musician

Jason Robards	actor

Edward Villella	dancer, choreographer

Doc Watson	bluegrass guitarist, vocalist

MacDowell Colony	artist colony

1998	Jacques d'Amboise	dancer, choreographer, educator

Antoine "Fats" Domino	rock 'n' roll pianist, singer

Ramblin' Jack Elliott	folk singer, songwriter

Frank Gehry	architect

Barbara Handman	arts advocate

Agnes Martin	visual artist

Gregory Peck	actor, producer

Roberta Peters	opera singer

Philip Roth	writer

Sara Lee Corporation	corporate arts patron

Steppenwolf Theatre Company	arts organization

Gwen Verdon	actress, dancer

1999	Irene Diamond	arts patron

Aretha Franklin	singer

Michael Graves	architect, designer

Odetta	singer, music historian

The Juilliard School	performing arts school

Norman Lear	producer, writer, director, advocate

Rosetta LeNoire	actress, producer

Harvey Lichtenstein	arts administrator

Lydia Mendoza	singer

George Segal	sculptor

Maria Tallchief	ballerina

2000	Maya Angelou	poet, writer

Eddy Arnold	country singer

Mikhail Baryshnikov	dancer & director

Benny Carter	jazz musician

Chuck Close	painter

Horton Foote	playwright, screenwriter

Lewis Manilow	arts patron

National Public Radio, cultural programming division	broadcaster

Claes Oldenburg	sculptor

Itzhak Perlman	violinist

Harold Prince	theater director, producer

Barbra Streisand	actress, singer & director

2001	Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation	modern dance company and school

Rudolfo Anaya	writer

Johnny Cash	singer & songwriter

Kirk Douglas	actor

Helen Frankenthaler	painter

Judith Jamison	artistic director, choreographer, dancer

Yo-Yo Ma	cellist

Mike Nichols	director, producer

2002	Florence Knoll Bassett	architect

Trisha Brown	artistic director, choreographer, dancer

Philippe de Montebello	museum director

Uta Hagen	actress, drama teacher

Lawrence Halprin	landscape architect

Al Hirschfeld	artist, illustrator

George Jones	singer

Ming Cho Lee	theater designer

William "Smokey" Robinson	songwriter, musician

2003	Austin City Limits	PBS television program

Beverly Cleary	writer

Rafe Esquith	arts educator

Suzanne Farrell	dancer, choreographer, company director, educator

Buddy Guy	blues musician

Ron Howard	actor, director & producer

Mormon Tabernacle Choir	choral group

Leonard Slatkin	symphony orchestra conductor

George Strait	country singer, songwriter

Tommy Tune	dancer, actor, choreographer, director

2004	Andrew W. Mellon Foundation	philanthropic foundation

Ray Bradbury	author

Carlisle Floyd	opera composer

Frederick Hart	sculptor (posthumous)

Anthony Hecht	poet

John Ruthven	wildlife artist

Vincent Scully	architectural historian & educator

Twyla Tharp	contemporary dance choreographer

2005	Louis Auchincloss	author

James DePreist	symphony orchestra conductor

Paquito D'Rivera	jazz musician

Robert Duvall	actor

Leonard Garment	arts advocate

Ollie Johnston	pioneering film animator & artist

Wynton Marsalis	jazz musician & educator

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts	arts education

Tina Ramirez	dancer & choreographer

Dolly Parton	singer & songwriter

2006	William Bolcom	composer

Cyd Charisse	actress & dancer

Roy DeCarava	photographer

Wilhelmina Holladay	arts patron

Interlochen Center for the Arts	summer arts camp and winter arts focused boarding high school

Erich Kunzel	conductor

Preservation Hall Jazz Band	jazz ensemble

Gregory Rabassa	literary translator

Viktor Schreckengost	industrial designer/sculptor

Ralph Stanley	bluegrass musician

2007	Morten Lauridsen	composer

N. Scott Momaday	author

Craig Noel	director

Roy Neuberger	arts patron

Les Paul	electric guitar pioneer

Henry Z. Steinway	arts patron

George Tooker	painter

Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (University of Idaho)	music festival

Andrew Wyeth	painter

2008	Stan Lee	comic book writer, editor

Richard M. Sherman	songwriter

Robert B. Sherman	songwriter

Olivia de Havilland	actress

Hank Jones	jazz pianist

Jesús Moroles	sculptor

Ford's Theatre Society	historic theatre organization

Fisk Jubilee Singers, (Fisk University)	African American choral group

José Limón Dance Foundation	dance troupe

The Presser Foundation	music philanthropy organization

2009	Bob Dylan	singer &songwriter

Clint Eastwood	actor & director

Milton Glaser	graphic designer

Maya Lin	artist & architect

Rita Moreno	actress

Jessye Norman	soprano

Joseph P. Riley, Jr.	mayor

Frank Stella	artist

Michael Tilson Thomas	conductor

John Williams	composer, conductor & pianist

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

School of American Ballet

2010	Robert Brustein	theater director & producer

Van Cliburn	classical pianist

Mark di Suvero	sculptor

Donald Hall	poet

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Quincy Jones	composer & music producer

Harper Lee	novelist

Sonny Rollins	jazz musician

Meryl Streep	actress

James Taylor	singer & songwriter

2011	Will Barnet	artist

Rita Dove	poet

Al Pacino	actor

Emily Rauh Pulitzer	arts patron

Martin Puryear	sculptor

Mel Tillis	singer & songwriter

United Service Organization (USO)	provides programs and entertainment to the U.S. military and their families

André Watts	classical pianist

2012	Herb Alpert	musician

Lin Arison	arts education advocate

Joan Myers Brown	dancer, choreographer and artistic director

Renée Fleming	opera singer

Ernest Gaines	author & teacher

Ellsworth Kelly	artist

Tony Kushner	playwright

George Lucas	film director

Elaine May	actress & director

Laurie Olin	landscape architect

Allen Toussaint	composer, producer and performer

Washington Performing Arts Society	arts presenter

2013	Julia Alvarez	novelist, poet & essayist

Brooklyn Academy of Music	presenter

Joan Harris	arts patron

Bill T. Jones	dancer & choreographer

John Kander	musical theater composer

Jeffrey Katzenberg	director and CEO of DreamWorks

Maxine Hong Kingston	writer

Albert Maysles	documentary filmmaker

Linda Ronstadt	musician

Billie Tsien & Tod Williams	architects

James Turrell	visual artist

2014	John Baldessari	visual artist

Ping Chong	theater director, choreographer, and video and installation artist

Míriam Colón	actress

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation	supporting creative expression across the country

Sally Field	actress and filmmaker

Ann Hamilton	visual artist

Stephen King	author

Meredith Monk	composer, singer, and performer

George Shirley	tenor

University Musical Society	presenting the performing arts to communities in Michigan

Tobias Wolff	author and educator

2015	Mel Brooks	actor, comedian, writer

Sandra Cisneros	author

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center	theater

Morgan Freeman	actor

Philip Glass	composer

Berry Gordy	record producer, song writer

Santiago Jiménez, Jr.	musician

Moises Kaufman	theater

Ralph Lemon	dance

Audra McDonald	actor

Luis Valdez	playwright, actor, director

Jack Whitten	painter

Sentence(s)

In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts.

final_sentence: In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts.