President Obama awarded this year’s 24 winners of the National Medal of Arts & Humanities in the East room of the White House Wednesday.
These awards are given annually by the president to people who have created work that is influential to Americans and will last them a lifetime. Recipients of the award include writers, poets, singers, dancers, producers, playwrights, scholars, and one performing arts organization.
According to Huffington Post, Obama says he is a personal fan of these people’s work and feels they have personally contributed to his own life. He applauses them for their hard work, success, and perseverance even when the odds were against them.
"We celebrate people like our honorees here today not just because of their talent, but because they create something new. They create a new space and that becomes a lasting contribution to American life," Obama said.
Notable National Humanities winners from this year include include Joan Didion, an author, Frank Deford, a sportswriter, and Robert B. Silvers, editor and co-founder of The New York Review of Books.
Notable National Arts winners from this year include co-founder of A&M Records Herb Alpert, filmmaker and creator of Star Wars George Lucas, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
Reuters reports that a memorable moment from today’s ceremony was when Obama walked to the edge of the stage to place the medal around 78-year-old author Joan Didion’s fragile neck.
This award was created by the United States Congress in 1984 in an effort to honor the work of artists and promote the practice of different art forms in the country.