633 West 155th Street at Broadway New York, N.Y. 10032 http://www.artsandletters.org/ The Academy, originally called the National Institute of Arts and Letters, was founded in 1898 as an offshoot of the American Social Science Association. The Institute met for the first time in February 1899 on West 43rd Street in New York City. Membership was originally capped at 150, with 30 of those being eligible for the additional honor of election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a prestigious inner body of the Institute that was founded in 1904. In 1907, the Institute and Academy increased their memberships to 250 and 50, respectively. In 1913, President Taft signed an act of Congress to incorporate the National Institute of Arts and Letters. The Academy was similarly incorporated in 1916. The American Academy of Arts and Letters is headquartered in three Beaux Arts granite and limestone buildings that are part of the Audubon Terrace Historic District in upper Manhattan. The District, named after the artist and naturalist John James Audubon (1785-1851), whose family's farm occupied the site in the 19th century, was purchased and developed in the early 20th century by the philanthropist Archer M. Huntington for the benefit of several cultural institutions, including the Academy. The Institute and Academy acquired a permanent home in 1923 when it moved into the current headquarters building on West 155th Street. Designed by William Mitchell Kendall of McKim Mead & White, it currently houses the administrative offices, members’ room, portrait gallery, library, and several exhibition galleries. The headquarters includes an oak-paneled members' room which contains fifty hand-carved Italian walnut chairs that were designed by McKim, Mead & White and given to the Academy by Mrs. Elizabeth Cochran Bowen. Between 1923 and 1992, each Academician, upon election to the Academy, was assigned a particular chair. Fastened to the backs of each chair is a plaque listing the name and date of tenure of each previous occupant. The names of members who were no longer alive in 1923 were also included, creating an unbroken lineage of occupation going back to 1904. Although the Academy no longer assigns chairs to its members, the original fifty still reside in the members' room where meetings are held throughout the year. The Academy's second building, located at 632 West 156 Street, was designed by Cass Gilbert and was completed in 1930. It adjoins the administration building and contains a large terrace-level exhibition space and a 730-seat auditorium. Each May members and award winners gather onstage in the auditorium to formally induct new members, confer awards and honors, and listen to a distinguished speaker deliver the Blashfield Address. In 1976, the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Letters voted to merge into one institution with a single board of directors, committee structure, and budget. From 1976 to 1993, the organization was known as the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1993, the members of the Academy and the Institute voted to dissolve the two-tier system of membership and enroll all 250 members into one organization called the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The American Academy of Arts and Letters is an honor society of 250 architects, composers, artists, and writers. Members of the Academy are elected for life and pay no dues. As vacancies occur, the Academicians nominate and elect new members. The honor of election is considered the highest formal recognition of artistic merit in the United States. Only Academicians may nominate and elect new members. The Academy's purpose is to foster and sustain an interest in Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts by identifying and encouraging individual artists. This is done by administering awards and prizes, exhibiting art and manuscripts, funding stage readings and performances of new works, and purchasing works of art to be donated to museums. Candidates for awards must be nominated by members of the Academy, with the sole exception of the Richard Rodgers Awards for musical theater. |
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