awards for arts achievement

Jeff Koons’s work has been exhibited around the world and is in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, The National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. He is also known for his public sculptures, such as the monumental floral work, Puppy, shown at Rockefeller Center and permanently installed at the Guggenheim Bilbao, and Split-Rocker, exhibited at the Papal Palace in Avignon, France. Most recently, Balloon Flower (Red) was unveiled at 7 World Trade Center in New York City.

Mr. Koons has received many awards and honors in recognition of his cultural achievements, including the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture and a Doctorate of Fine Arts from The Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, DC. For his work educating children through the visual arts, he received the 1999 Art Start for Children Award given by Learning Through Art/The Guggenheim Museum Children’s Program. In 2001, he was appointed by French President Jacques Chirac to the rank of Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor for his ongoing contributions toward tightening cultural links between France and the United States. Mr. Koons received the BZ Cultural Award 2000 from the city of Berlin and was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He has lectured at many universities and institutions, including Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, New York University, the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Museum of Modern Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Mr. Koons was born in York, PA, in 1955. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, where he received a B.F.A. in 1976, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lives and works in New York City.