Sept. 13: Arts in Embassies 2023 Medal of the Arts recipients. From left, Suling Wang, Hank Willis Thomas, Robert Pruitt, and Tony Abeyta, in the East Room of the White House. | Official White House Photo by Erin Scott

 
First Lady Jill Biden hosted the 2023 Medal of Arts event honoring five artists at the White House
 

A COLLECTION OF ART by American and Zimbabwean artists graces the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Most prominently, a four-panel drawing by Robert Pruitt is installed in the lobby. “Forever’s People” (2018) captures the essence of Pruitt’s practice. The seven figures depicted in the work are a vision of creativity, possibility, and cultural pride.

“Through dress and adornment, I juxtapose signs and symbols of science and science fiction, hip hop, African-American culture and political struggles and African traditional cultures to reveal a radical past, present and future,” Texas-born, New York-based Pruitt states, describing his work on his website.

Commissioned by the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program, “Forever’s People” represents African Americans and the people of Zimbabwe. Measuring 20 feet long and seven feet high, the massive, site-specific work is on permanent display at the embassy.

 


ROBERT PRUITT, Forever’s People, Charcoal and conte crayon on paper mounted to Dibond panels, Overall: 84 × 240 in. (213.4 × 609.6 cm); made up of 4 panels that each measures: 84 × 60 in. (213.4 × 152.4 cm). | © Robert Pruitt. Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State, Permanent Collection

 

Pruitt and New York conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas, along with renowned textile artist Sheila Hicks, abstract painter Suling Wang, and Tony Abeyta, a Navajo artist who focuses on nature and the environment, received the State Department’s 2023 Medal of Arts recognizing the critical role artists play in America’s cultural diplomacy.

The Sept. 13 ceremony was held at the White House, where First Lady Jill Biden welcomed State Department officials and congratulated the artists. (Hicks did not attend.)

“Art is about connection. Art is the evidence and expression of our humanity. And even when it’s easy to get caught up in differences, art can unite us. Connection is what diplomacy is all about,” Biden said in her remarks.

“In embassies and ambassadors’s residences in countries across the globe, the art of our five incredible medalists hangs on the walls. And as guests enter, their works are not only a declaration of who we are, they’re an invitation to a conversation and an opening for connection. But for these artists, that wasn’t enough. They’ve also spent their time forging connections between themselves, speaking at workshops and exhibitions, creating bonds of understanding and friendship that help our diplomats succeed.”

“In embassies and ambassadors’s residences in countries across the globe, the art of our five incredible medalists hangs on the walls.… But for these artists, that wasn’t enough. They’ve also spent their time forging connections between themselves, speaking at workshops and exhibitions, creating bonds of understanding and friendship that help our diplomats succeed.”
— First Lady Jill Biden


Sept. 13: From left, First Lady Jill Biden, artist Robert Pruitt, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma in the East Room of the White House. | Official White House Photo by Erin Scott

 

THE ART IN EMBASSIES PROGRAM was formally established at the State Department in 1963 and over the years more than 200 artists have participated in exchange programs and contributed art that hangs on the walls of countless U.S. embassies and ambassadors’s residences.

To celebrate the program’s 60th anniversary, a series of public events and panel discussions with artists were held at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal (June 5-7), where “Democracy Collection – A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time,” a special traveling exhibition was also presented.

The exhibition includes about 30 works by artists Glenn Ligon, Tomashi Jackson, Titus Kaphar, Christine Sun Kim, and Carrie Mae Weems, among others, along with four Norman Rockwell-inspired photographs produced by the co-founders of For Freedoms.

Thomas works across a range of mediums. His public art portfolio includes “The Embrace” (2022), a monumental bronze sculpture honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King on Boston Common. Thomas also co-founded For Freedoms with Eric Gottesman, Emily Shur, and Wyatt Gallery.

For Freedoms was established in 2016 in the lead up to the U.S. Presidential election. A platform for civic engagement, For Freedoms launched what it described as the largest public art campaign in American history, a nationwide billboard project giving artists a forum to encourage public awareness, community action, and political change.

The For Freedoms photographs were created by Thomas and Shur in collaboration with Gottesman and Gallery. The images revisit a set of Rockwell paintings published in the Saturday Evening Post that made reference to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 address to Congress presenting his post-World War II vision of a world rooted in four basic freedoms: freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of speech, and freedom of worship. The Rockwell works made three generations ago exclusively picture white people. By contrast, the For Freedoms works produced in 2019 feature people of color.

 


From left, FOR FREEDOMS, “Four Freedoms: Freedom from Fear,” 2019 (archival pigment print, Unframed: 42 × 52 1/2 inches / 106.7 × 133.4cm) and FOR FREEDOMS, “Four Freedoms: Freedom of Worship,” 2019 (archival pigment print, Unframed: 42 × 52 1/2 inches / 106.7 × 133.4cm). | © For Freedoms. Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State, Permanent Collection, Gift of Ellen Susman (2)

 

AT THE WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY, Megan Beyer, director of the Art in Embassies program, introduced each of the Medal of Arts recipients. Announcing Thomas, she said:

    From an early age, Hank Willis Thomas learned how to look critically at all images, from family photos to his mother’s work, who was an archivist in Black history and culture. Now in his conceptual, multimedia practice, he challenges us to do the very same thing. Sparked by a seemingly limitless creative and intellectual curiosity, Hank uses humor and ingenuity to reframe the issues we sometimes overlook. His work, “A Place to Call Home, Africa, America” is part of the Art in Embassies 60th anniversary exhibition in Lisbon. In his words, “It is related to ideas about being a hyphenated American. I wanted to make a place where African Americans come from. The lines between nations are imaginary, just like the lines between races.”

In honor of Pruitt, Beyer said:

    Robert Pruitt explores identity and creates meaningful connections through the subjects of his figurative drawings. His bold re-envisioning of Black history, U.S. history, and pop culture has made him a pre-eminent artist today. When we take in his beautifully rendered charcoal portraits, we witness the stunning breadth of Black identity and imagination. As a student at Texas Southern University in his native Houston, Robert learned the power of making art that reflects the history and the fabric of the African American experience.

“This year’s honorees, like those before them, selflessly offer their creative talents to the mission of American cultural diplomacy,” Beyer said in a statement. “Artworks on display in embassies and residences are potent soft power tools of diplomacy.”

Previous Medal of Arts recipients include Sam Gilliam, Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Kehinde Wiley, Nick Cave, and Carrie Mae Weems. CT

 

“A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time,” the State Department’s 60th anniversary traveling exhibition is making its final stop at National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. (Sept. 19-Oct. 1, 2023). The Smithsonian museum is hosting Democracy Day: Art and Democracy in American History on Sept. 19, an afternoon of public programming featuring several artists, including Hank Willis Thomas

 

SEE THE FULL LIST of 2023 Medal of Arts recipients

FIND MORE about the history of the Arts in Embassies program

 

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On Sept. 13, First Lady Jill Biden hosted U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies 2023 Medal of Arts ceremony. After Biden gave remarks, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma spoke, and Megan Beyer, director of the Art in Embassies program, announced the five recipients. | Video by The White House

 


Sept. 13: Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma delivers remarks at the Arts in Embassies ceremony in the East Room of the White House. | Official White House Photo by Erin Scott

 


Sept. 13: Artist Hank Willis Thomas and his daughters with, from left, curator Rujeko Hockley (his wife) and fellow 2023 Medal of Arts recipient Suling Wang, pictured with First Lady Jill Biden in the East Room of the White House. | Official White House Photo by Erin Scott

 

BOOKSHELF
Robert Pruitt’s work graces the cover of the recent catalog “A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration” and was featured prominently in the coinciding traveling exhibition. “A Movement in Every Direction: A Great Migration Critical Reader” was also published to accompany the exhibition. “Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal” surveys the artist’s career and includes several contributors, Kellie Jones, Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, and designer Bobby Martin, among them. “Hank Willis Thomas: Pitch Blackness” is the artist’s first monograph.

 

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