Artist Thomas Lanigan Schmidt honored in New York by the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
The artist Thomas Lanigan Schmidt in his New York "studio" (a rent controlled apartment near Broadway in New York City) at the time of his exhibition at MOMA Queens four years ago.While the Trump administration, aided and abetted in Illinois by Governor Bruce Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, continues to gut art and music programs in public schools, a lifelong artist (and brother of this reporter) is being honored in New York City in a major way. For those readers in the New York area, an exhibit is taking place until April 9 in New York City.
Thomas Lanigan Schmidt (known in the family as Tommy) has been an artist since he was a young child. He moved to New York from Linden, New Jersey, and found a place that was more hospitable to both his art and to the fact that Tommy grew up gay in a less diverse time. In addition to his art working, which continues, Tommy is one of the remaining Stonewall "Survivors" (the only one in the now famous picture of the Stonewall fighters taken during the rebellion). His art has slowly become better and better known of late, and via Facebook he also provides regular commentary on art, religion, and politics.
Tommy's large family is again proud of his life, work, and lifes' works in both arts and working class activism.
The announcement about the award
2017 ART AWARD WINNERS
New York City, March 23, 2017 — The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the nine artists who will receive its 2017 awards in art. The awards will be presented in New York City in May at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial. The art prizes and purchases, totaling over $250,000, honor both established and emerging artists.
The award winners were chosen from a group of 35 artists who had been invited to participate in the Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, which opened on March 9, 2017. The exhibition continues through April 9, 2017, and features over 125 paintings, sculptures, installations, and works on paper. The members of this year’s award committee were: Judy Pfaff (Chairman), Lois Dodd, Mary Frank, Robert Gober, Yvonne Jacquette, Bill Jensen, Joan Jonas, Dorothea Rockburne, and Joel Shapiro.
Arts and Letters Awards
Five awards of $10,000 each to honor exceptional accomplishment and to encourage creative work
JANICE CASWELL
CORNELIA FOSS
THOMAS LANIGAN-SCHMIDT
JOANNA POUSETTE-DART
HAP TIVEY
The Jacob Lawrence Award
$10,000 given to a visual artist
VANESSA GERMAN
The Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Award
$10,000 given to a visual artist
JOE FYFE
The John Koch Award
$10,000 given to a young painter of figurative work
MARISSA BLUESTONE
The Rosenthal Family Foundation Award
$10,000 given to a young painter of distinction
LOUISE DESPONT
Art Purchase Program
The Academy’s purchase program began in 1946 to place the work of talented, living American artists in museums across the country. Since the inauguration of this program, the Academy has spent nearly $5 million to purchase over 1200 works of art.
The American Impressionist painter Childe Hassam (1859-1935) founded this program through the bequest of over 400 of his works with the stipulation that the accumulated income from their sale be used to establish a fund to purchase paintings and works on paper. Similar bequests were made by Academy members Eugene Speicher (1883-1962), Louis Betts (1873-1961), and Gardner Symons (1861-1930). All works purchased through this program are donated to American museums.
PURCHASED ARTISTS
JOE BALLWEG
ANDREA BERGART
MARISSA BLUESTONE
CAETLYNN BOOTH
JANICE CASWELL
JOE FYFE
DAVID HORNUNG
JOYCE KOZLOFF
THOMAS LANIGAN-SCHMIDT
KAKYOUNG LEE
MARILYN LERNER
MICHAEL LUCHS
BEVERLY MCIVER
KATHY MUEHLEMANN
WALTER ROBINSON
DAVID SECCOMBE
GRETA WALLER
Art Purchase Program for Sculpture
Since 2013, the Academy has allocated funds specifically for the purchase of sculpture to be donated to American museums.
DANIELLA DOOLING
HELEN O’LEARY
JONATHAN SHAHN
Works by the winners of the 2017 Art Awards and Purchases are currently on display in the Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, and will be shown in the Exhibition of Work by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards, which follows the Ceremonial in May.
American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was established in 1898 to “foster, assist, and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts.” Election to the Academy is considered the highest formal recognition of artistic merit in this country. Founding members include William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox, Daniel Chester French, Childe Hassam, Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Vedder, and Woodrow Wilson. The Academy is comprised of 250 of America’s leading voices in the fields of Art, Architecture, Literature, and Music. The Academy presents exhibitions of art, architecture, and manuscripts; and readings and performances of new musicals. It is located in three landmark buildings on Audubon Terrace at 155 Street and Broadway, New York City.
