National Arts Awards

The National Arts Awards are presented by Americans for the Arts annually during National Arts & Humanities Month to distinguish private sector arts leadership.

Categories
The National Arts Awards are divided into the following categories:


 * Arts Advocacy Award is presented to a noted artist or arts advocate with a track record of advocating for the arts.
 * Arts Education Award is presented to a noted artist or arts advocate with a track record of contributing to the advancement of arts education.
 * Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award is presented to a high-profile, major corporate leader with a record of contributing to arts and cultural institutions or initiatives.
 * Eli and Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts is presented to an individual with a demonstrable history of philanthropic giving to one or more major arts institutions.
 * Isabella and Theodor Dalenson Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a nationally recognized, established artist with a lifetime of exemplary artistic accomplishment in his or her field.
 * The Bell Family Foundation Young Artist Award is presented to an individual who has achieved incredible accomplishments and exemplary leadership while still early in their careers.
 * Outstanding Contributions to the Arts celebrates the artistic excellence of an established artist or arts advocate.
 * Kitty Carlisle Hart Award, Outstanding Contribution to the Arts Award, was awarded by the Arts & Business Council from 1996 to 2004, it became part of the National Arts Awards in 2005.

Recipients
Not all categories are awarded each year

Arnold Gingrich Memorial Award
• Marian Anderson

• George Balanchine

• Leonard Bernstein

• Hume Cronyn

• Agnes DeMille

• Martha Graham

• Helen Hayes

• Lincoln Kirstein

• Arthur Mitchell

• Jessye Norman

• William S. Paley

• Joseph Papp

• Itzhak Perlman

• Jason Robards

• Beverly Sills

• Neil Simon

• Stephen Sondheim

• Isaac Stern

• Jessica Tandy

• Billy Taylor

• Lila Acheson Wallace

Arts Advocacy Award

 * Christopher Reeve

Arts Education Award
• Martina Arroyo

• Wynton Marsalis

• Arthur Mitchell

Corporate Citizenship in the Arts
• American Express

• AT&T

• FleetBoston Financial Corp.

• General Electric

• IBM Corporation

• JP Morgan Chase & Co.

• The Hearst Corporation

• The McGraw-Hill Companies

• Time Warner/Gerald Levin

• VH1

Featured Artist
• Julie Mehretu

• Jeff Koons

• Kenny Scharf

Kitty Carlisle Hart Award
Awarded by the Arts & Business Council from 1996 to 2004, it became part of the National Arts Awards in 2005. • Edward Albee

• Richard Avedon (2003)

• Will Barnet

• Mikhail Baryshnikov

• Harry Belafonte

• Chuck Close

• Betty Comden & Adolf Green

• Barbara Cook

• Merce Cunningham

• Renée Fleming

• Hugh Hardy

• Al Hirschfeld

• Judith Jamison

• Peter Martins

• Yoko Ono

• Nam June Paik

• Gordon Parks (2001)

• James Stewart Polshek

• Harold Prince

• Robert Rauschenberg

• Martin Scorsese

• Anna Deavere Smith

• Paul Taylor

Lifetime Achievement Award
• Jason Robards

• Beverly Sills

Special Recognition
• Rep. John Brademas

• Rep. Amory Houghton, Jr.

• Rep. Jerrold Nadler

1998

 * Alec Baldwin, Arts Advocacy Award
 * Midori Gotō, Arts Education Award
 * Isaac Stern, Colleen Dewhurst Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Hugh McColl, Corporate Citizen Award
 * Michael H. Jordan and CBS, Special tribute for outstanding vision and exemplary contributions to the arts in America

1999

 * Hillary Clinton, Arts Advocacy Award
 * Agnes Gund, Arts Education Award
 * Sanford I. Weill, Corporate Citizen Award
 * Jacob Lawrence, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Brooke Astor, Philanthropy Award

2000

 * Wendy Wasserstein, Arts Advocacy Award
 * Peter I. Bijur, Corporate Citizen Award
 * Frank Gehry and Thomas Krens, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Jo Carole Lauder, Philanthropy Award
 * Uma Thurman, Young Artist Special Recognition Award

2001

 * Peter Martins, Artistic Leadership Award
 * Michael Greene, Arts Advocacy Award
 * The Honorable Schuyler Chapin, Arts Education Award
 * Robert H. Benmosche, Corporate Citizen Award
 * Richard Meier, Lifetime Achievement Award

2002

 * Cindy Sherman, Artistic Excellence
 * Alberto Vilar, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts
 * David Rockefeller, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Pinchas Zukerman, Isaac Stern Award for Excellence in Classical Music
 * Dr. Robert S. Martin, Special Recognition for 25 Years of Service
 * Kathleen A. Dore, Special Recognition for Excellence in Arts & Media
 * Natalie Portman, Young Artist Award

2003

 * Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Artistic Leadership
 * Dr. Vance D. Coffman, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts
 * Teresa Heinz, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Richard Avedon, Lifetime Achievement
 * Kirk Varnedoe, Special Memorial Tribute for Extraordinary Contributions to the Arts
 * Sofia Coppola, Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence

2004

 * Chuck Close, Artistic Leadership and Arts Advocacy
 * A.G. Lafley, Procter & Gamble, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts
 * Raymond Nasher, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Paul Taylor, Lifetime Achievement
 * William Bassell, Principal, Long Island City High School, Special Arts Education Recognition Award
 * Mena Suvari, Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence

2005

 * Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau, Arts Education Award
 * Target Corporation, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts
 * Eli Broad, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts
 * John Baldessari, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Kerry Washington, Young Artist Award

2006

 * Jeff Koons, Artistic Achievement Award
 * United Technologies Corporation, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award
 * Sheila C. Johnson, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Aretha Franklin, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Kitty Carlisle Hart, Special Recognition for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts
 * Jake Gyllenhaal, Young Artist Award

2007

 * Music Industry and NAMM, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award
 * Wallis Annenberg, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Anna Deavere Smith, Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts
 * Ellsworth Kelly, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * The United States Conference of Mayors, Special Recognition in Honor of Its 75th Anniversary
 * John Legend, Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence

2008

 * Phil Ramone, Arts Advocacy Award
 * The Principal Financial Group, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award
 * Joan W. Harris, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy
 * Yoko Ono, Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts
 * Dame Julie Andrews, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Kehinde Wiley, Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence

2009

 * Ed Ruscha, Artistic Excellence Award
 * Anne Finucane, Bank of America, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award
 * Sidney Harman, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Salman Rushdie, Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts
 * Robert Redford, Lifetime Achievement Award

2010

 * Martha Rivers Ingram, Eli and Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Angela Lansbury, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Rodarte, Maria and Bill Bell Young Artist Award
 * Herb Alpert, Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award

2011

 * Frank Stella, Isabella and Theodor Dalenson Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Jenny Holzer, Outstanding Contributions to the Arts
 * President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Arts Education Award
 * Gabourey Sidibe, Bell Family Foundation Young Artist Award
 * Beverley Taylor Sorenson, Eli and Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Wells Fargo & Company, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award

2012

 * Paul G. Allen, Eli and Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * James Rosenquist, Isabella and Theodor Dalenson Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Brian Stokes Mitchell, Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award
 * Josh Groban, Bell Family Foundation Young Artist Award
 * Lin Arison, Arts Education Award
 * AXA Art Insurance Corporation, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award

2013

 * Dakota Fanning - Bell Family Foundation Young Artist Award
 * B.B. King – Isabella and Theodor Dalenson Lifetime Achievement Award
 * John and Mary Pappajohn – Eli & Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
 * Joel Shapiro – Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award
 * Alberto Carvalho – Arts Education Award

2014

 * Richard Serra - Lifetime Achievement Award
 * David Hallberg - Bell Family Foundation Young Artist Award
 * Norie Sato - Public Art Network Award
 * Malissa Feruzzi Shriver - Arts Education Award

2015

 * Lady Gaga - Young Artist Award

2016

 * Doug Aitken - Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award
 * Esperanza Spalding - Ted Arison Young Artist Award