In a special White House ceremony Sept. 22, President Barack Obama will present the some of the nation’s greatest artists with the 2015 National Medals of Arts. The highest award given to both individual and group artists and arts patrons by the United States government, the medals recognize and celebrate “the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States,” according to a press release from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Among this year’s honorees are six-time Tony Award-winning actor and singer Audra McDonald; EGOT winner and multi-hyphenate Mel Brooks; screen icon Morgan Freeman; award-winning thespian Luis Valdez; and renowned playwright-director Moisés Kaufman. The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center of Waterford, Connecticut, was also honored “for its unwavering support of American theater.” For over 50 years, the institution has launched the careers of countless successful theater makers, including previous National Medal of Arts recipients Edward Albee, Robert Redford, Harold Prince, Tommy Tune, and Meryl Streep.
READ: “The O’Neill Celebrates 50 Years”
NEA Chairman Jane Chu said in a statement, “These National Medal
Source: Backstage.com News
