Medal Day 2019
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Vol. 48, No. 1, Summer/Fall 2019 IN THIS ISSUE Jackie Sibblies Drury Wins Pulitzer, Orange and Norman Earn Nominations 2 Fellows Accolades in Theatre, plus Arts and Letters Honors 3 Charles Gaines Becomes 60th Edward MacDowell Medalist Before 1,400 5 National Benefit Raises More than Half-a-Million for Programs 10 Architects | Composers | Filmmakers | Interdisciplinary Artists | Theatre Artists | Visual Artists | Writers Medal Day 2019 100 High Street, Peterborough, NH 03458-2485 NH Peterborough, Street, High 100 PETERBOROUGH, NH PETERBOROUGH, PERMIT NO. 55 NO. PERMIT PAID U.S. POSTAGE U.S. NON-PROFIT ORG. NON-PROFIT Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury Wins Pulitzer Prize Jackie Sibblies Drury (11) whose play Fairview has been earning acclaim since opening Off-Broadway at Soho Repertory Theatre last summer, is the winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In making the award, the Pulitzer board called the play “a hard-hitting drama that examines race in a highly conceptual, layered structure, ultimately bringing audiences into the actors’ community to face deep-seated prejudices.” Two other Fellows were finalists for Pulitzer Prizes. Writer Tommy Orange (14, 19) was nominated for the fiction award for his novel There There, and compos- er Andrew Norman (5x 08-14) was nominated for the award in music composi- tion for his orchestral work Sustain. Two Fellows Take LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR The New York Artists Illuminate Times Notable Home GRAMMYs Our Way Forward We also congratulate two Fellows who took home Book List 2018: GRAMMYs at the beginning of the year. Aaron Jay A few years ago, on my first visit to Pales- Kernis (1989, 1991, 1992) won the Best Contemporary tine, I met a gentleman who told me this In its latest list of the 100 Notable Books of the Classical Composition GRAMMY for his Violin Concerto, story: after years of petitioning the govern- Year, The New York Times included 18 titles by while Steven Lance Ledbetter (1995) was the co-com- ment to allow him to build a home for his MacDowell Fellows. Titles in bold denote proj- pilation producer for Voices of Mississippi: Artists and family and receiving no response, he went ects made at MacDowell: Musicians Documented by William Ferris, which took the ahead and constructed his dwelling. The award for Best Historical Album. authorities soon declared his home illegal Tayari Jones (03, 07, 16) for An American and told him they would destroy it. “I didn’t Marriage want to pay to see my home bulldozed,” Kevin Young (6x 93-13) for Brown: Poems he told me, “so I demolished it myself.” Though I did not ask, I wondered how he Olivia Laing (11) for Crudo felt as the beams fell, and how long he Andrew Martin (19) for Early Work Parker Retrospective stood, staring at the wreckage. Right now, there exists a substantial Meg Wolitzer (81, 84, 87) for The Female Currently on View force in our own culture determined to Persuasion incite chaos. I suppose, at times, I under- Sigrid Nunez (89, 90, 94) for The Friend Olivia Parker (93) is the stand the impulse to tear down walls. But, subject of a retrospective undoing and dismantling is not the gov- Joan Silber (4x 95-14) for Improvement at the Peabody Essex Mu- erning principle of the painter, journalist, Ottessa Moshfegh (16) for My Year of Rest seum in Salem, MA from storyteller, composer, or architect. In the and Relaxation July to November 2019. end, art is about transformation. Vanishing in Plain Sight, I thought about this on Medal Day, Lawrence Osborne (94, 95) for Only to Sleep: A an exhibition at Lesley when the entire family that makes up Philip Marlowe Novel University in Cambridge, MacDowell came together – to cele- Neel Mukherjee (16) for A State of Freedom brate invention, to honor Charles Gaines MA, closed in April and as our 60th Medalist, and to meet our Tommy Orange (14, 19) for There There moved to The Florida artists-in-residence. There is something Shane Bauer (16) for American Prison: Museum of Photographic transcendent, sublime about opening the A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into the Arts in Tampa. It all co- artist studios this one day each year. A Business of Punishment incided with a new book release, Order of Imagination: community of art lovers, nourished by the The Photographs of Olivia Parker. creative spark, gets an inside perspective Paige Williams (15) for The Dinosaur Artist: on the animating impulse of an artist’s Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s . work. And the artist feels the sustenance Ultimate Trophy provided by their audience. A nurturing Beth Macy (15) for Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, relationship is manifest. Artists don’t destroy, though they may and the Drug Company That Addicted America Vijay Seshadri well challenge us, expose hypocrisy, and Michael Massing (07) for Fatal Discord: create divine discomfort. In so doing – Erasmus, Luther and the Fight for the Named Poetry Editor they reveal possibility. Western Mind MacDowell is persistent in the conviction that championing the spirit to Susan Orlean (10, 15) for The Library Book of The Paris Review innovate and risk is the most profound Lauren Hilgers (17) for Patriot Number One: MacDowell Board Member and Fellow Vijay Seshadri way to do battle with a society in crisis. American Dreams in Chinatown Artists will rage against the elements; they (98, 04) was recently named poetry editor of The Paris will, as Antonin Artaud has promised, “sig- Wesley Yang (13) for The Souls of Yellow Folk: Review. He won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 3 nal through the flames.” Ultimately, they Essays Sections and a 2015 Literature Award from the Ameri- cause us to question assumptions and can Academy of Arts and Letters. feel deeply. In this, they lead us forward. They ignite and illuminate our way. Thank you for being part of this vital arts community that provides a creative home to artists 365 days a year. It is your CHEVRON-CIRCLE-RIGHT New Board Members CHEVRON-CIRCLE-RIGHT New Staff support, your donations, and your un- derstanding of the catalytic and creative impulse that makes us a relevant and united humanity. Philip Himberg Executive Director Amelia Dunlop Rosemarie Fiore Catherine Ingraham Julia Solomonoff Stephanie Stafford Laura Hanson Corporate Strategist Visual artist Architect Filmmaker Financial & HR Administrative 2 Administrator Assistant The MacDowell Colony Summer/Fall 2019 AWARD WINNERS Follow the latest developments, news, McNally Receives and artist updates on Twitter, Instagram, Lifetime Tony and Facebook @MacDowellColony Terrence McNally (10) received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway LeagueTheatre in June. Congratula- tions are also due to Daniel Fish (15), who was nominated for Best Direction of a Musical for Rodgers & Hammer- 2019 Guggenheim stein’s Oklahoma! (Oklahoma! won for best revival); Taylor Mac (14), who was nominated for Best Play for Gary: A Fellowships to Sequel to Titus Andronicus; and David Neumann (14), who 17 Fellows was nominated for Best Choreography for Hadestown. We congratulate the 17 MacDowell Obie Awards Fellows awarded 2019 Fellowships Madeleine George (04, 15, 18) won for Playwriting for Hurricane Diane (New York Theatre Workshop); Suzan-Lori Parks (89, 91, 95) won for Playwriting for White Noise (The Public Theater); Lee Sunday Evans (15) won a Special Citation for from the John Simon Guggenheim directing Dance Nation; and Daniel Fish (15) won a Special Citation for directing Oklahoma! Foundation. The awardees represent six of the seven disciplines MacDowell Lucille Lortel Awards supports. In all, the foundation granted Antoinette Nwandu (17) won Outstanding Play for Pass Over; Lee Sunday Evans (15) won Outstanding Director for 168 individuals Fellowships from Dance Nation; Dan Moses Schreier (13) won Outstanding Sound Design for Carmen Jones; and María Irene Fornés (64) a pool of almost 3,000 applicants was honored as the Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee. on April 4. This diverse group was awarded the Fellowships on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise. HONORS ACROSS DISCIPLINES Cecilia Aldarondo (14, 18), film/video Yevgeniya Baras (15), visual artist American Academy Elects Five Fellows Alexandra Chasin (12), writer This past spring, the American Academy of Arts and Letters elected 11 new lifetime members, five of whom are Daniel Duford (18), visual artist MacDowell Fellows. The honor society of the country’s leading architects, artists, composers, and writers was Yance Ford (12), film/video founded in 1898 and Edward MacDowell was one of its original members. Congratulations to new literature members Mariah Garnett (17), film/video Suzan-Lori Parks (89, 91, 95), Claudia Rankine (95, 02), and Grace Schulman (73, 79, 80, 06). Meredith Monk (7x Karen Hartman (04, 06), theater/ 87- 07) is a new music member, and writer Adam Zagajewski (81) of Germany was elected as a Foreign Honorary playwright Member. Awards in Literature were given to Marilyn Chin (87, 91, 94), Eileen Myles (91, 96, 09, 14), Lauren Yee (09), Joanna Klink (08, 17), writer and Tommy Orange (14, 19). Lydia Millet (19) received an award of merit for lifetime achievement in the short story. Michelle Lopez (96), visual artist Four Fellows received music awards: composer Elizabeth Ogonek (15), composer Christopher Cerrone (15, 17) , Sylvan Oswald (06, 10, 19), theater/ Stacy Garrop (00, 04, 06, 07), and composer Travis Alford (16). Awards in Architecture were given to Mario Gooden (12), and MacDowell Board Member Mabel O. Wilson (10, 17). The Arnold W. Brunner Grant for Architectural Research playwright went to Richard W. Hayes (5x 01-16). Sam Pluta (15, 17), music composition Matthew Porterfield (15), film/video Benita Raphan (03), film/video Rome Prizes Go to Four Fellows Matthew Ricketts (19), music composition The American Academy in Rome has announced the winners of the 2019-20 Rome Prize.