NEWS RELEASE

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS
ANNOUNCES 2006 Art AWARD WINNERS

New York, April 13, 2006 -- The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the nine recipients of the 2006 awards in art, which total over $40,000. The winners were selected by a committee of Academy members: Wolf Kahn, Yvonne Jacquette, Philip Pearlstein, Martin Puryear, Catherine Murphy, Richard Artschwager, Kenneth Snelson, and Kiki Smith. The awards will be presented at the Academy's annual Ceremonial in May.

Candidates for art awards are nominated by the members of the Academy. Thirty seven finalists were invited to participate in the Academy's annual Invitational Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, and the award committee selected the nine winners from this exhibition.

Academy Awards in Art

Five Academy Awards in Art are given each year to honor exceptional accomplishment. This year, the $7500 awards will be presented to:

Elizabeth King
Glenn Ligon
Arthur Simms		 Merrill Wagner
Yuriko Yamaguchi

Jimmy Ernst Award in Art

The $5000 Jimmy Ernst Award in Art, established by Dallas Ernst in memory of her husband, is given to a ''painter or sculptor whose lifetime contribution to his or her vision has been both consistent and dedicated.''   Lynda Benglis

Rosenthal Foundation Award in Painting

The $5000 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award is presented annually to a ''young American painter of distinction.''   Ellen Altfest

Award of Merit Medal for Painting

The Award of Merit medal and $10,000 is given to an outstanding person in America representing one of the following arts: Painting, Short Story, Sculpture, Novel, Poetry, and Drama.   Thomas Nozkowski

Willard L. Metcalf Award in Art

This $10,000 biennial award, established by a bequest from Addison M. Metcalf, son of member Willard L. Metcalf, is to honor a young artist of great promise.   Gedi Sibony

Art Purchase Program

The Academy's purchase program began in 1946 -- its goal, to place the work of talented, living American artists in museums across the country. In recent years, purchase selections have been made from the annual Invitational Exhibition in the spring. Since the inauguration of the purchase program, the Academy has spent almost $2.7 million for the purchase of over 1100 works of art. After the death of the American Impressionist painter, Childe Hassam (1859-1935), his widow, Maude Hassam, began this program with a 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 (1865-1930).

These artists' works were purchased in 2006 and will be donated to museums:

Brian Alfred
Ben Aronson
Matt Blackwell
Emily Brown
Charles Cajori
Nicolas Carone		 Linda Francis
Michael Mazur
Sara McEneaney
Andrew Raftery
David Sharpe
Carol Wax

Exhibition of Art Award Winners and Purchase Artists

Work by these artists will be featured in the Exhibition of Work by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards, from May 18 through June 4, 2006, at the Academy's galleries, on Broadway, between 155th and 156th Streets. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The galleries will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday on Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28.