Medal Day History
Since the Edward MacDowell Medal was first awarded in 1960, artists who have received this honor include Leonard Bernstein, John Updike, Georgia O'Keeffe, I.M. Pei, Merce Cunningham, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Sonny Rollins, and Toni Morrison. The artistic discipline in which the award is given rotates in order to celebrate all of the creative fields practiced at MacDowell. The Medal Day ceremony features not only the honoree but also a well-known presentation speaker who is familiar with the Medalist's work. Past speakers include visual artist Richard Serra, writer William Styron, and Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Robert Campbell.
MacDowell Medalists
Below is a complete list of MacDowell Medalists, along with the presentation speaker for each year (*asterisks denote MacDowell Fellows). We did not hold a Medal Day celebration in 2020 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Year | Medalist | Discipline | Speaker |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Yoko Ono | Interdisciplinary Art | Nora Halpern |
2023 | Alanis Obomsawin | Documentary Film | Jesse Wente |
2022 | Sonia Sanchez | Poet | Walter Mosley* |
2021 | Rosanne Cash | Composer | Kurt Andersen |
2019 | Charles Gaines | Visual Artist | Thelma Golden |
2018 | Art Spiegelman | Comic Artist | Hillary Chute |
2017 | David Lynch | Filmmaker | Kristine McKenna |
2016 | Toni Morrison | Writer | Peter Sellars |
2015 | Gunther Schuller | Composer | Yehudi Wyner and Terrance McKnight |
2014 | Betye Saar | Visual Artist | Lowery Stokes Sims |
2013 | Stephen Sondheim | Composer | Frank Rich |
2012 | Nan Goldin | Photographer | Luc Sante* |
2011 | Edward Albee | Playwright | Mike Nichols |
2010 | Sonny Rollins | Composer | Gary Giddins |
2009 | Kiki Smith | Visual Artist | Lynne Tillman* |
2008 | Thom Mayne | Architect | Robert Campbell |
2007 | Les Blank | Filmmaker | Fred Wiseman |
2006 | Alice Munro | Writer | Virginia Barber |
2005 | Steve Reich | Composer | Richard Serra and David Lang |
2004 | Nam June Paik | Visual Artist | John Hanhardt |
2003 | Merce Cunningham | Interdisciplinary Artist | Meredith Monk* |
2002 | Robert Frank | Visual Artist | Philip Brookman |
2001 | Philip Roth | Writer | William Styron |
2000 | Lou Harrison | Composer | Dennis Russell Davies |
1999 | Ellsworth Kelly | Visual Artist | James Cuno |
1998 | I. M. Pei | Architect | J. Carter Brown |
1997 | Chuck Jones | Filmmaker | John Canemaker |
1996 | Joan Didion | Writer | Elizabeth Hardwick |
1995 | George Crumb | Composer | Christopher Rouse |
1994 | Jasper Johns | Visual Artist | Kirk Varnedoe |
1993 | Harry Callahan | Photographer | Anne Tucker |
1992 | Richard Wilbur | Poet | Richard Howard |
1991 | David Diamond* | Composer | Joseph Polisi |
1990 | Louise Bourgeois | Visual Artist | Robert Storr |
1989 | Stan Brakhage | Filmmaker | John Hanhardt |
1988 | William Styron | Writer | George Plimpton |
1987 | Leonard Bernstein* | Composer | Ned Rorem* |
1986 | Lee Friedlander | Photographer | John Szarkowski |
1985 | Robert Motherwell | Visual Artist | Varujan Boghosian |
1984 | Mary McCarthy | Writer | Elizabeth Hardwick |
1983 | Elliott Carter* | Composer | Michael Steinberg |
1982 | Isamu Noguchi | Visual Artist | William Lieberman |
1981 | John Updike | Writer | Wilfred Sheed |
1980 | Samuel Barber | Composer | Charles Wadsworth |
1979 | John Cheever | Writer | Elizabeth Hardwick |
1978 | Richard Diebenkorn | Visual Artist | John Canaday |
1977 | Virgil Thomson* | Composer | Alfred Frankenstein* |
1976 | Lillian Hellman | Writer | John Hersey |
1975 | Willem de Kooning | Visual Artist | Dore Ashton |
1974 | Walter Piston | Composer | Michael Steinberg |
1973 | Norman Mailer | Writer | John Leonard |
1972 | Georgia O'Keeffe | Visual Artist | Eric Larrabee |
1971 | William Schuman | Composer | Aaron Copland* |
1970 | Eudora Welty | Writer | Elizabeth Janeway |
1969 | Louise Nevelson | Visual Artist | John Canaday |
1968 | Roger Sessions | Composer | Edward T. Cone |
1967 | Marianne Moore | Poet | Glenn Wescott |
1966 | Edward Hopper | Visual Artist | Lloyd Goodrich |
1965 | Edgard Varese | Composer | Milton Babbitt |
1964 | Edmund Wilson | Writer | Aaron Copland* |
1963 | Alexander Calder | Visual Artist | Meyer Shapiro |
1962 | Robert Frost | Poet | Aaron Copland* |
1961 | Aaron Copland* | Composer | Irving Kolodin |
1960 | Thornton Wilder* | Writer | Edward Weeks |
Medal Day Speeches
Below you will find videos of select Medal Day acceptance speeches going back to 2006. The images below the video lineup will take you to PDFs of MacDowell newsletters that have chronicled earlier Medal Day speeches for the enjoyment of those who could not attend.
Poet Sonya Sanchez Accepts the 2022 Edward MacDowell Medal
Rosanne Cash Accepts the 2021 Edward MacDowell Medal
Visual Artist Charles Gaines Accepts the 60th Edward MacDowell Medal
Art Spiegelman Accepts the 2018 Edward MacDowell Medal
Watch David Lynch’s bonkers video acceptance of the 2017 Edward MacDowell Medal
Novelist Toni Morrison Accepts the 57th Edward MacDowell Medal in the Arts in 2016
Composer Yehudi Wyner on his friend 2015 Medalist Gunther Schuller
Stephen Sondheim Accepts 2013 Edward MacDowell Medal
Medal Day Summaries
There is no charge to attend Medal Day. Thanks to the generosity of our Medal Day Corporate Sponsors as well as our Individual Donors MacDowell is able to keep this annual event free and open to the public.
The Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award
An award created to honor those who profoundly and uniquely support artists, aligning with our founder Marian MacDowell’s legacy and her championship of artists as they create bold new works that spark our imagination, illuminate our world, and celebrate our humanity.
Learn more about the Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award