The American Academy in Rome’s 2015 Spring Gala was held last Wednesday at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. The festive event honored three individuals whose work in the arts and humanities represents the very best of the energetic scholarly and artistic activity that takes place at the American Academy in Rome every day. The photographer and visual artist Carrie Mae Weems (2006 Fellow), the New York Review of Books editor Robert B. Silvers, and the sound and light artist James Turrell, chosen as this year’s honorees because of their important contributions to the arts, accepted the Academy’s Centennial Medal before an audience of publishing, art world, and corporate luminaries.
Silvers, introduced on video by Martin Scorsese, reminded us in his speech of the important link between American and European cultural history, and pointed out AAR’s contribution in honing and upholding this tradition. The gala itself, cochaired by Suzanne Deal Booth and Cary J. Davis, played an important role in that ongoing intercontinental relation. The funds raised at the event provide significant support for the work of the artists and scholars in residence at the Janiculum.