The National Medal of Arts is an award and title bestowed on selected honorees by the National Endowment for the Arts. Ceremoniously given by the President of the United States, it is the highest honor given to an individual artist by the national government on behalf of the people.
Traditionally twelve medals are awarded each year, but in 1997 only eleven were awarded, as poet Adrienne Rich refused the medal because of "the cynical politics of the Clinton administration."
