WASHINGTON, DC.- President Barack Obama presented the National Medal of Arts to ten recipients for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts. (Twelve medalists were announced; however two were not able to attend the ceremony. Their medals will be presented at another time.) The medals were presented by the president and Mrs. Michele Obama in an East Room ceremony at the White House. The National Medal of Arts is a White House initiative managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year, the NEA organizes and oversees the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notifies the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence. “These individuals and organizations show us how many ways art works every day. They represent the breadth and depth of American architecture, design, film, music, performance, theatre, and visual art,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “This lifetime honor recognizes their excep