Frank Gehry to Receive Harvard Arts Medal

Gehry is the first architect to earn the distinction. 

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Bilbao, Spain. Photograph by Myk Reeve

Architect Frank Gehry, Ds ’57, Ar.D. ’00, creator of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and MIT’s Stata Center, will receive the Harvard Arts Medal at the opening event of the annual Arts First festival on April 28. The event’s host, actor John Lithgow ’67, Ar.D. ’05, will join Gehry in a discussion about his life’s work.

Gehry is beloved by critics, contemporaries, and the public for his use of bold curves, vivid shapes, and everyday materials. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, completed in 1997 is one of most celebrated achievements in modern art. The medalist earned his bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1954. He briefly studied urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design—citing his interest in creating affordable, utilitarian designs for the public—but left before completing his degree.

“Frank Gehry is a true original, a visionary artist whose work has revolutionized architecture and place-making in the twenty-first century,” Lithgow said in announcing the award.

The Arts Medal is awarded each year to a “Harvard or Radcliffe graduate or faculty member who has achieved excellence in the arts and has made a contribution through the arts to education or the public good.” Gehry is the first architect to earn the distinction. Previous recipients include ballet dancer Damian Woetzel, M.P.A. ’07, actor Matt Damon ’92, and poet John Ashbery ’49. 

Read more articles by Marina N. Bolotnikova

You might also like

Harvard in the News

University layoffs, professors in court, and a new Law School dean

The Pump Celebrates Its 85th Birthday

Giving Harvard traditions their due 

The Latest In Harvard’s Fight with the Trump Administration

Back-and-forth reports on settlement talks, new accusations from the government, and a reshuffling of two federal compliance offices

Most popular

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics. 

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

Why Harvard Needs International Students

An ed school professor on why global challenges demand global experiences

Explore More From Current Issue

Brandon Terry, wearing a blue suit, standing before The Embrace, a large bronze sculpture of intertwined arms in Boston Common.

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

Whimsical illustration of students rushing through ornate campus gate from bus marked “Welcome New Students.”

Highlights from Harvard’s Past

The Medical School goes coed, University poet wins Nobel Prize. 

John Goldberg

Harvard in the News

University layoffs, professors in court, and a new Law School dean