NEW YORK, May 7, 2018—The American Academy of Arts and Letters is pleased to announce its exhibition of paintings, works on paper, photographs, and video; architectural models and renderings; and original manuscripts by newly elected members and recipients of honors and awards. Works will be on view from May 24 through June 17, at the Academy galleries located on Audubon Terrace in Washington Heights.

Marina Adams, One Song, 2017; Sarah Sze, Hammock (For Rauschenberg), 2017; El Anatsui, Commercial Avenue, 2014 ©El Anatsui. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Nicole Eisenman, Big New Constellation, 2017. Courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York/ ©Nicole Eisenman; Roy Dowell, Untitled #1098, 2016
Paintings, sculptures, works on paper, photographs, video, architectural models and renderings
NEW MEMBERS IN ART
El Anatsui · Nicole Eisenman · Jenny Holzer · Doris Salcedo · Sarah Sze
AWARD OF MERIT MEDAL IN PAINTING
Marina Adams
ARCHITECTURE AWARD WINNERS
Brad Cloepfil · MASS Design Group · Smiljan Radic · Cassim Shepard · William Stout
ART AWARD WINNERS
Todd Bienvenu · Sanford Biggers · Sedrick Huckaby · Jim Melchert · Carrie Moyer · Annabeth Rosen · Alison Saar · Joan Waltemath · Didier William
ART PURCHASES
Chester Arnold · Robert Barber · Sam Cady · Roy Dowell · Jim Long · Nikki Maloof · Jim Melchert · Ruth Miller · Ruth Root · Barb Smith · Robert Storr · Christina Tenaglia · Nari Ward · Marjorie Welish · Roger White

Alison Saar, Cotton Eater Study, 2013; Sanford Biggers, Incidental Geometry, 2017. © Sanford Biggers. Photo credit: Object Studies; Brad Cloepfil (Allied Works Architecture), Clyfford Still Museum: Concept Model no. 01, 2007; Didier William, Ma Tante Toya, 2017; Ruth Root, Untitled, 2016
Manuscripts, rare editions, and personal effects
NEW MEMBERS IN LITERATURE AND MUSIC
Ian Buruma · Ron Chernow · Jeffrey Eugenides · Ben Johnston · Maxine Hong Kingston · George E. Lewis · Terrance McNally · Lynn Nottage · Jayne Anne Phillips · Michael Tilson Thomas
GOLD MEDAL IN BIOGRAPHY
Ron Chernow
GOLD MEDAL IN MUSIC
John Adams
AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE ARTS
Virginia Dajani
MEDAL FOR SPOKEN LANGUAGE
David Sedaris
LITERATURE AWARD WINNERS
Hannah Lillith Assadi · Clare Cavanagh · Emily Fridlund · Mary Gaitskill · Noy Holland · Ishion Hutchinson · Marlon James · Kay Redfield Jamison · Atticus Lish · Rick Moody · Red Pine (Bill Porter) · Mary Robison · Elaine Scarry · Brenda Shaughnessy
MUSIC AWARD WINNERS
Kathryn Alexander · Matthew Aucoin · John Aylward · Huck Hodge · Jesse Jones · Peter Van Zandt Lane · John Mackey · Missy Mazzoli · Andrew Rudin · Laurie San Martin · Matthew Schreibeis · Christopher Theofanidis · Anna Weesner · Scott Wheeler
RICHARD RODGERS AWARD WINNERS
Ross Baum · Angelica Chéri · Jason Kim · Helen Park · Max Vernon · Woodshed Collective
Ceremonial Exhibition: Work by New Members and Recipients of Awards
MAY 24 – JUNE 17, 2018
Thursdays through Sundays
1 to 4 p.m.
Enter on Audubon Terrace, west side of Broadway
between 155 and 156 Streets, New York City.
#1 train to 157 Street and Broadway; M4 or M5 bus to 155 Street and Broadway
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898 as an honor society of the country’s leading architects, artists, composers, and writers. Early members include William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Julia Ward Howe, Henry James, Edward MacDowell, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Singer Sargent, and Edith Wharton. The Academy’s 250 members are elected for life and pay no dues.
In addition to electing new members as vacancies occur, the Academy seeks to foster and sustain an interest in Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts by administering over 70 awards and prizes, exhibiting art and manuscripts, funding performances of new works of musical theater, and purchasing artwork for donation to museums across the country.