President Joe Biden will host Bruce Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gladys Knight, Vera Wang, and other recipients of the 2021 National Medal of Arts at the White House on Tuesday.
The president will also award the 2021 National Humanities Medals to a group of authors and scholars including Amy Tan, Colson Whitehead, and Ann Patchett at the ceremony. The National Medal of Arts is the nation’s highest honor for advancing the arts in the United States, and the National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened Americans’ engagement with history.
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Both medals are the first of their kind awarded under the Biden administration, as ceremonies were delayed for the 2021 and 2022 classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden surprised Sir Elton John with a National Humanities Medal during a White House event last September.
First lady Jill Biden is expected to participate in Tuesday’s event, which will take place in the East Room.
The 2021 National Medal of Arts recipients are musician Springsteen, actor Louis-Dreyfus, musician Knight, fashion designer Wang, musician Jose Feliciano, artist Judith Francisca Baca, radio station owner Fred Eychaner, actor Mindy Kaling, the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the Billie Holiday Theatre, producer Joan Shigekawa, and painter Antonio Martorell Cardona.
The Underground Railroad novelist Whitehead, poet Richard Blanco, author Walter Isaacson, educator Johnnetta Betsch Cole, academic Henrietta Mann, author Patchett, The Joy Luck Club author Tan, historian Earl Lewis, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, Native America Calling, and author Tara Westover are the 2021 National Humanities Medal winners.
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Celebrities have flocked to the White House and vice president’s residence in recent days. The cast of the hit Apple TV series Ted Lasso made an appearance at the White House press briefing on Monday before meeting with the president to discuss the importance of mental health.
On Saturday, rap superstar Megan Thee Stallion and supermodel Lori Harvey were among the guests at Vice President Kamala Harris’s exclusive champagne brunch to celebrate Women’s History Month and promote paid family leave.
