Arts and Letters

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 26, 2026 – The American Academy of Arts and Letters is pleased to announce the 11 new members who will be inducted into the Departments of Architecture, Art, and Literature in 2026, along with 3 new Foreign Honorary members.

In Architecture: Monica Ponce de Leon

In Art: Alfredo Jaar, Elizabeth Peyton, Stephen Shore, Joan Snyder

In Literature: Sandra Cisneros, Marie Howe, Pico Iyer, Rick Moody, Carl Phillips, Arthur Sze

In Foreign Honorary membership: Marlene Dumas, Maria Stepanova, Luisa Valenzuela

The 300 members of Arts and Letters are divided into Departments of Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music, and are elected in recognition of notable achievement in their fields. Members are elected for life, pay no dues, and nominate and elect new members as vacancies occur. Members oversee every aspect of the institution’s governance by serving on its Board of Directors and award selection committees. By honoring their peers through election to membership and supporting nonmember artists through awards, exhibitions, and public programs, the members of Arts and Letters create a community of mutual support and recognition for artists across disciplines.

In addition, Arts and Letters includes 75 Foreign Honorary members—architects, artists, composers, and writers from outside the United States—and 20 American Honorary members whose work falls outside the membership’s traditional departments.

The 11 new members and 3 honorary members will be inducted during the annual Arts and Letters Ceremonial in May. During the ceremony, Zadie Smith will deliver the keynote Blashfield Address. Smith, a Foreign Honorary member of Arts and Letters and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is a writer and novelist based in London. Her most recent publication, a collection of essays called Dead and Alive, was published by Hamish Hamilton last fall.

Founded in 1898, the American Academy of Arts and Letters represents the highest standards of artistic achievement in this country, and our community of members are among the leading contemporary architects, visual artists, writers, and composers. Arts and Letters honors creative accomplishment through the election of members, the conferment of awards, and presenting public exhibitions and interdisciplinary programs at our historic buildings in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.

Media Inquiries
Hanna Graybill
(212) 368-5900
hgraybill@artsandletters.org

2026 Newly Elected Members List

Architecture
Monica Ponce de Leon

Art
Alfredo Jaar
Elizabeth Peyton
Stephen Shore
Joan Snyder

Literature
Sandra Cisneros
Marie Howe
Pico Iyer
Rick Moody
Carl Phillips
Arthur Sze

Foreign Honorary
Marlene Dumas
Maria Stepanova
Luisa Valenzuela