Based on the National Medal of Arts program and inaugurated by the Raleigh Arts Commission in 1984, the Raleigh Medal of Arts is awarded for transformative, imaginative, and innovative achievement in the practice or support of the local arts. The award is the City’s highest arts honor and has been awarded 164 times in the past 37 years.
Below is a list of past Medal of Arts awardees.
| Year | Awardees |
|---|---|
2022 |
Alluvial Decoder Public Art Project by A Gang of Three Linda Dallas Paul Friedrich June Guralnick S.T.A.R. Special Theatre Arts of Raleigh The Veldt |
2020 |
Debra Austin Betsy Buford Grant Llewellyn Eleanor Oakley Jeremy Tucker Beltline to Broadway |
2018 |
Jerome Davis Dr. Fran M. Page Freddie Lee Heath Dr. Gregg Gelb Martha Needels Keravuori Dr. Jonathan C. Kramer The Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music |
2016 |
William Henry Curry Eric Ennis Sharon Moore Sarah Powers Dr. Mel A. Tomlinson Ginny Zehr |
2014 |
Arts Together Marta Findlay-Partridge George Holt Terrence Mann Thomas and June Roberg Ruggero Piano |
2012 |
Nancy Lambert Parker Poe Laura Raynor Triangle Philharmonic Association |
2010 |
Ruth Green William Ivey Long Nancy Olson Dwane Powell J. Mark Scearce Banks C. Talley, Jr. |
2008 |
Capital Bank Lucy Daniels Charles "Chuck" Davis Lenard D. Moore Susan Spurlin Newberry Jeffery H. Richardson |
2006 |
North Carolina Symphony North Carolina Theatre Rory Parnell Melissa Podcasy Progress Energy The Raleigh Ringers |
2005 |
Karen Edwards Anne Roberts Packer Dr. Randolph "Randy" Foy |
2004 |
Lee Hansley Hillyer Community Chorus Robert Weiss NC Museum of Art Docents Jane Elizabeth Williamson Teague |
2003 |
Lope Max Diaz Lanette Lind Thomas Mcguire Melissa Peden |
2002 |
Even Exchange Dance Theatre Hugh Partridge Lawrence Wheeler |
2001 |
William Brown |
2000 |
Robin Harris K.D. Kennedy Dr. Assad Meymandi |
1999 |
Arts Access Anita Burroughs-Price Thomas H. Sayre |
1998 |
Community Music School Elaine A. Lorber Meredith College Martha N. Zaytoun |
1997 |
NC Museum of Art Visual Art Exchange Gerhardt Zimmermann |
1996 |
Bonnie Brooks City Gallery of Contemporary Art Kaye Gibbons Raleigh Ensemble Players Mary Ann Scherr Dr. Alfred E. Sturgis Don Wilder |
1995 |
The Crafts Center Elizabeth Grimes Droessler The Fletcher School of Performing Arts Ward Purrington |
1994 |
McCrae Hardy John McIlwee Raleigh Fine Arts Society |
1993 |
Gerald Barrax City Gallery of Contemporary Art James Goodmon Mary Anne K. Jenkins Bill Tilton Inge Witt |
1992 |
George Bireline Center Stage at NCSU Stewart Theatre The Raleigh Boychoir Bob Rankin Nona Short The Woman’s Club of Raleigh Arts Festival |
1991 |
Joel Adams Artspace Charlotte Brown Joe Cox Dick Gable Raleigh Chamber Music Guild Raleigh Music Club Scholarships Raleigh Oratorio Society Ann Smith Dick Snavely WCPE |
1990 |
Betsy Blair Paul B. Conway James A. Crawford Margot Richter Thomas E. Sibley Raleigh Little Theatre Raleigh Symphony Orchestra |
1989 |
Arts Together Douglas Haas Bennett Sally Buckner Rebecca Gill Betty Kovach James E. Longmire Ben F. Williams Albert D. Wolfheimer |
1988 |
Abram Kanoff Suzanne Newton Raleigh Fine Arts Society Literary Contest Henry Vermillion J. Perry Watson David Witherspoon Peyton Woodson III |
1987 |
Horace Caple Jo Cresimore Friends of the College Phyllis Garriss Peggy Hoffman Lemma Mackie Ira David Wood III |
1986 |
Cablevision of Raleigh DeAnn Jones Paul Montgomery Waltye Rasulala Addison Reed Theatre in the Park |
1985 |
Artsplosure Henry Bowers Capitol Broadcasting Co. James M. Marshall Beth Cummings Paschal George M. Stephens |
1984 |
Geraldine Cate Willie Jordan-Williams John Lambert James A. McLean Northern Telecom Inc. Robert Petters Ira David Wood III Anna Wooten-Hawkins |
