Fourth annual Leonore and Walter Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts
Award presentation: May 15, 2012
Washington, D.C.
The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) will honor architect I. M. Pei with the fourth annual Leonore and Walter Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts, which will be presented at a dinner at the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host FAPE’s members at the event, and FAPE Chairman Jo Carole Lauder, will present the award to Mr. Pei.
The Leonore and Walter Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts was established in 2008 to honor FAPE’s founder, Leonore Annenberg, and her husband, Walter. It recognizes Americans who have demonstrated a commitment to the arts and who exhibit long-term excellence and innovation in the exchange of creativity and ideas that represent the rich and diverse culture of the United States.
“We are thrilled to present the 2012 Leonore and Walter Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts to I. M. Pei, one of the greatest living architects,” said Jo Carole Lauder, FAPE’s Chairman. “His innovation and boldness in the field of architecture for the past fifty years is a profound inspiration and an example of how design can make an impact on a global scale.”
Pei has been a leading figure in architecture since his emigration from China to the United States in 1935. Known for his progressive use of natural elements, open spaces and simple geometric patterns, Pei has designed some of the world’s most recognizable architecture, including the glass-and-steel pyramid for the Louvre in Paris (1993) and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (1978).
Past recipients of the Annenberg Award include Agnes Gund, President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Chairman of MoMA’s International Council, Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Stephen G. Breyer.
The 2012 print contribution to FAPE’s Lee Kimche McGrath Original Print Collection by Joel Shapiro will also be unveiled on May 15 at the dinner. Named for FAPE’s Founding Director, the Original Print Collection is FAPE’s oldest program, through which some of America’s most celebrated and accomplished artists have contributed prints for display in U.S. embassies. The print donated by Shapiro, entitled Toss-up (2012), will make the twentieth edition in the Collection.
In 1999, Shapiro installed Conjunction at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, FAPE’s first site-specific work. He is currently working on a 20-foot-high sculpture for the new U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China, which will be installed in 2013.
Related public panel discussion presented by the National Gallery of Art in coordination with FAPE:
Architecture and Art: Creating Community
In the spirit of the Annenberg Award’s mission, FAPE will present Architecture and Art: Creating Community, a panel discussion at the National Gallery of Art on Tuesday, May 15 at 1pm. The theme of this year’s panel is how architecture and art bring people together in public spaces.
The discussion will be with David Adjaye, Principal Architect, Adjaye Associates; Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Principal Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Tom Finkelpearl, Executive Director, Queens Museum of Art; Sarah Lewis, art historian, author, and curator; and moderator Robert Storr, Dean, Yale School of Art.
About FAPE
FAPE is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to providing permanent works of American art for U.S. embassies worldwide, through site-specific commissions, an original print collection, preservation projects and other arts initiatives. It contributes to the U.S. Department of State’s mission of cultural diplomacy by partnering with American artists whose gifts encourage cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public. All artworks commissioned or placed by FAPE are gifts, representing generosity and patriotism among some of the country’s greatest artists. As of 2012, FAPE’s donations include permanent works by more than 200 preeminent American artists placed in more than 140 countries.
FAPE was founded in 1986 by Leonore Annenberg, Wendy W. Luers, Lee Kimche McGrath, and Carol Price. Its current leadership includes Chairman Jo Carole Lauder, President Eden Rafshoon, Vice President Darren Walker, and Director Jennifer A. Duncan. A volunteer advisory committee chaired by Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art, selects and commissions all FAPE artists. FAPE underwrites the fabrication and installation, and is exclusively funded through individual donations as well as foundations and corporations.
Sponsor: Bank of America
Gold Corporate Member: Accenture
2012 Print Publisher: Gemini G.E.L.
Event Sponsors: Mike & Marley; The Wine Stash
Media contacts
For more information on FAPE, images, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Elizabeth Reina-Longoria or Rachel Patall-David
Blue Medium Inc.
+1 (212) 675-1800
elizabeth [at] bluemedium.com
rachel [at] bluemedium.com
Image above:
Copyright/photo by Laurie Lambrecht.
