MacDowell, one of the country’s finest artist residence programs, has honored Yoko Ono with a lifetime achievement award.
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The trailblazing artist, filmmaker, and musician will receive the Edward MacDowell Medal this year, following in the footsteps of Stephen Sondheim and Toni Morrison, among others.
In a Sunday statement, the board’s chairman Nell Painter said that there has never been anyone like her nor has there ever been work like hers,”.
He said Ono has pleased eyes, aroused minds, encouraged feminism, and supported refugees with imaginative works for over seven decades.
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Enduringly new and contemporary, her unusually powerful output resonates with the current times which are in desperate need of her leitmotif: peace.
In a statement, Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, described the award as “an incredible honor.”
He noted that the list of prior awardees and the history is extremely impressive which makes him very glad to see her work valued and celebrated in such a manner.
The 91-year-old Ono has made few public appearances recently and may not attend the July honors event at the MacDowell campus in Peterborough, New Hampshire. David Newgarden, Ono’s music manager, will receive the award on her behalf.
Ono first rose to prominence as a member of the avant-garde Fluxus movement of the 1960s, before becoming internationally famous after meeting John Lennon, with whom she married from 1969 until he died in 1980.
“Give Peace a Chance,” “Imagine,” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” are some of their collaborations. “War is Over” became the inspiration for “War Is Over! “Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko” is this year’s Oscar winner for best animated short film.
Ono has had a busy career in the past 40 years working as a visual and recording artist, producing albums such as “Season of Glass,” “Starpeace,” and “Take Me to the Land of Hell.” She was recently showcased in a career retrospective at London’s Tate Modern