Yoko Ono announced as recipient of Edward MacDowell Medal
Yoko Ono is set to be celebrated by MacDowell, an American arts institution, with the Edward MacDowell Medal for lifetime achievement.
In previous years, recipients of the illustrious prize include Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, David Lynch, Rosanne Cash and Toni Morrison. Now, Ono is set to add her name to the prestigious list and becomes the first beneficiary of the Edward MacDowell Medal since poet Sonia Sanchez in 2022.
In a statement, MacDowell board chair Nell Painter said of Ono: “There has never been anyone like her; there has never been work like hers. Over some seven decades, she has rewarded eyes, provoked thought, inspired feminists, and defended migrants through works of a wide-ranging imagination. Enduringly fresh and pertinent, her uniquely powerful oeuvre speaks to our own times, so sorely needful of her leitmotif: Peace.”
Meanwhile, Ono’s son Sean Ono Lennon remarked: “It’s an incredible honor that my mother, Yoko Ono, will be awarded the MacDowell Medal. The history and list of past recipients is truly remarkable. It makes me very proud to see her art appreciated and celebrated in this way.”
The ceremony is set to take place at the MacDowell campus in Peterborough, New Hampshire, on July 21st and will be a free event for the public to attend. In receiving the award, Ono will become the first Asian woman to be given the Edward MacDowell Medal. The first medal was handed to Thornton Wilder in 1960, and over the decades, it has grown to become one of the most highest honours that can be bestowed upon an artist.
However, the 91-year-old is not expected to be present to be at the ceremony, and instead, Ono’s manager, David Newgarden, will accept the award on his client’s behalf.
Oko’s career is currently the subject of the exhibition, Music Of The Mind, at Tate London, which is set to run until September 1st, 2024.
In a review of the ongoing artistic celebration of Ono, Far Out wrote: “Balancing joy and seriousness in equal measure, from the giggles that echo through the rooms as strangers play with her interactive exhibits from the quiet that falls over the room as her Cut Piece film plays, the Tate approaches Ono’s career with exactly the spirit it deserves. Cutting through the noise of misconceptions or tired reductions, they position Ono as the exciting artist she is and always has been and as a vital teacher to so many other artists rather than just a muse to one.”
