Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Showing Original Post only (View all)

demmiblue

(36,751 posts)
Sun Jul 15, 2018, 01:12 PM Jul 2018

Trump Has Yet to Award the National Arts Medals for 2016 [View all]

For decades the United States has recognized its greatest artists — about a dozen each year — with a national medal, an award created by Congress and typically distributed each year by the president at a White House ceremony.

Since 1985, arts figures including Georgia O’Keeffe, Frank Capra and Ella Fitzgerald have received the National Medal of Arts while similar cultural achievement has been recognized by the National Humanities Medal, which presidents have awarded to the likes of Steven Spielberg, Anna Deavere Smith and Louise Glück.

But neither of those medals has been awarded since President Trump took office, the longest gap ever and one that again draws attention to the president’s often awkward relationship with the arts. The deadline for nominations for the 2016 arts medals, which have yet to be awarded, was in February 2017.

“I’m hoping that it is a delay as opposed to a policy decision because I think it’s a good thing for these awards to happen,” said Robert Lynch, the president and chief executive officer of Americans for the Arts, an advocacy organization.

The White House responded to questions about the medals by saying that planning is underway to distribute them as in years past. “We are currently evaluating candidates and will likely issue later this year,” said Lindsay E. Walters, a White House spokeswoman.

It does seem the delay may be simply a matter of an administrative backlog. The National Medal of Science, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation have also not been awarded since 2016.

But the holdup around the arts medals is notable because of President Trump’s rocky relationship with the National Endowment for Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His first proposed federal budget would have eliminated these agencies, which, in addition to promoting cultural programs, recommend candidates for the national medals to the president.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/arts/trump-has-not-yet-awarded-2016-national-arts-medals.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesarts
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Trump Has Yet to Award th...