Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Darlene Superville

Biden awarding 1st batch of arts, humanities medals Tuesday

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Bruce Springsteen and Mindy Kaling will be among those honoured at the 2021 National Humanities Medals and the National Medal of Arts ceremony on Tuesday (21 March).

Similar to an MBE, the National Medal of Arts is the nation’s highest award for advancing the arts in America.

Springsteen and Kaling are among a dozen individuals and groups including Gladys Knight and Julia Louis-Dreyfus that Biden has chosen to honour with arts medals during the White House ceremony. First lady Jill Biden will also participate.

The medal, inaugurated in 1997, “honours individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects,” according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The ceremony was among the many White House events postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the same event, Biden will award 2021 National Humanities Medals to a group including authors Amy Tan, Colson Whitehead and Ann Patchett. The medal honours individuals or groups for work that deepens understanding of the humanities.

(Left to right) Mindy Kaling, Joe Biden and Bruce Springsteen (Getty Images)

Both medals are the first of their kind to be awarded by Biden. The president surprised Sir Elton John with a National Humanities Medal during a White House musical event last September.

Find a full list of recipients of the 2021 National Medal of Arts below:

Judith Francisca Baca, artist.

Fred Eychaner, businessman and philanthropist.

Jose Feliciano, singer.

Mindy Kaling, actress.

Gladys Knight, singer.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actor.

Antonio Martorell-Cardona, painter.

Joan Shigekawa, film producer.

Bruce Springsteen, singer.

Vera Wang, fashion designer.

The Billie Holiday Theatre.

The International Association of Blacks in Dance.

And the recipients of the 2021 National Humanities Medal:

Richard Blanco, poet and author.

Johnnetta Betsch Cole, anthropologist.

Walter Isaacson, writer.

Earl Lewis, social historian.

Henrietta Mann, academic.

Ann Patchett, author.

Bryan Stevenson, advocate for the poor.

Amy Tan, author.

Tara Westover, author.

Colson Whitehead, author.

Native America Calling.

Additional reporting from The Associated Press

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.