The National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) announced that President Obama will present the Los Angeles artist John Baldessari and eleven other recipients with the 2014 National Medal of Arts at a ceremony at the White House on September 10.

Other honorees include artists Ann Hamilton and Ping Chong, the musician Meredith Monk, tenor George Shirley, actresses Sally Field and Miriam Colon, and novelists Stephen King and Tobias Wolff.

According to a statement by the NEA, Baldessari was selected for his “ambitious work [that] combines photography, painting and text to push the boundaries of image, making him one of the most influential conceptual artists of our time.”

John Baldessari.
Photo: Analia Saban. Via Wikimedia Commons.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the prestigious award—the highest government issued award given to artists and art patrons—was conceived by President Reagan and the Committee of the Arts and Humanities, and has been awarded annually since its establishment by Congress in 1984.

The medal which the recipients are set to receive is a creation of another Los Angeles artist, the late sculptor Robert Graham.

President Obama will present the medal at a ceremony at the White House on September 10.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Winners of the award are personally selected by the president based on a shortlist of nominees drawn up by the NEA and the National Council on the Arts.

In a statement, NEA chairperson Jane Chu praised the honorees for having “broadened our horizons and enriched our lives.”

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