Mel Brooks, Morgan Freeman to Receive National Medal of Arts
Mel Brooks, Morgan Freeman, Philip Glass, Berry Gordy, and Audra McDonald are among the recipients of the annual National Medal of Arts, which President Barack Obama will hand out at a ceremony at the White House on Sept. 22.
Other honorees include author Sandra Cisneros, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, musician Santiago Jimenez, Jr., playwright and director Moises Kaufman, dancer and choreographer Ralph Lemon, playwright and actor Luis Valdez, and painter Jack Whitten.
The National Council on the Arts, which oversees the National Endowment for the Arts, reviews nominations and sends recommendations to the president, who determines the honorees.
Also being honored will be recipients of the National Humanities Medal: author Rudolfo Anaya, chef José Andrés, author Ron Chernow, poet Louise Glück, radio host Terry Gross, composer and musician Wynton Marsalis, author James McBride, author Louis Menand, historian Elaine Pagels, the Prison University Project, physician Abraham Verghese, and journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson.
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