President Biden will host a star-studded White House ceremony this week — honoring big names including Bruce Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gladys Knight, Vera Wang and more — as he presents them with the highest award given to artists by the United States government in an event that had been delayed due to COVID-19.
While the White House unveiled the 23 recipients being recognized with the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal for the first time on Monday, the honorees are actually the 2021 award winners.
The president did award a National Humanities Medal to Elton John last year, in a surprise move after the “Rocket Man” singer performed at a White House event.
Jill Biden is also expected to attend the arts award event at the White House on Tuesday.
The 2021 National Medal of Arts recipients include: musician Jose Feliciano, artist Judith Francisca Baca, radio station owner Fred Eychaner, actor Mindy Kaling, the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the Billie Holiday Theatre, producer Joan Shigekawa and painter Antonio Martorell Cardona.
Among the 2021 National Humanities Medal winners: “The Underground Railroad” novelist Colson Whitehead, poet Richard Blanco, author Walter Isaacson, educator Johnnetta Betsch Cole, academic Henrietta Mann, author Ann Patchett, “The Joy Luck Club” author Amy Tan, historian Earl Lewis, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, Native America Calling and author Tara Westover.
Previous winners of the National Medal of Arts have included Morgan Freeman, George Lucas, Sally Field, Stephen King and Meryl Streep.