The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) is pleased to announce that its 30th Anniversary Annual Events will take place on Monday, April 18, in Washington, D.C. The Events will include a reception and dinner hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms, where FAPE will present Frank Gehry with the 2016 Leonore and Walter Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to our country’s rich artistic tradition. FAPE Chairman Jo Carole Lauder will present the award.

“We are thrilled to be honoring Mr. Gehry, one of the world’s greatest living architects, with our eighth annual Annenberg Award. For more than five decades, his innovation, vision, and boldness of spirit in the field of architecture has been a profound inspiration. His architectural contributions have had a significant impact, not only on the world of architecture, but on culture and humanity on a global scale,” said FAPE Chairman Jo Carole Lauder.

This year’s Annenberg Award presentation is part of a year-long celebration of FAPE’s 30th Anniversary. The Award is named in honor of Lee Annenberg, a founder of FAPE, and her husband, Walter, for their extraordinary commitment to FAPE.  It also pays tribute to their passion for art, and their extraordinary philanthropic legacy.

“It is a great honor to receive the 2016 Annenberg Award from FAPE, an organization that believes that art and design can foster a deeper appreciation of all cultures. This is a principle that is central to my work as well, so it is wonderful to be included in FAPE’s legacy of cultural diplomacy through art. Art and architecture work in concert, and are vital to sparking creativity, enhancing understanding, and creating a dialogue.” said Mr. Gehry.

Frank Gehry, who is known for his choice of unusual materials, as well as his architectural philosophy, has designed some of the world’s most iconic buildings from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, to the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France. His distinctive, organic aesthetic has made Mr. Gehry one of the most recognizable architects of the 21st Century.

Mr. Gehry has served as a professor of architecture at Columbia University, Yale University and the University of Southern California. He has also served as a board member at USC's School of Architecture, his alma mater. Among his many official honors, Mr. Gehry was the 1989 recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize, an annual award honoring a living architect, and in 1998, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

About Frank Gehry

Raised in Toronto, Canada, Frank Gehry moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1947.  Mr. Gehry received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1954, and he studied City Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. In subsequent years, Mr. Gehry has built an architectural career that has spanned over five decades and produced public and private buildings in America, Europe and Asia.  His work has earned Mr. Gehry several of the most significant awards in the architectural field, including the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, the Pritzker Prize, the Wolf Prize in Art (Architecture), the Praemium Imperiale Award, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award, the National Medal of Arts, the Friedrich Kiesler Prize, the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal, the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, the Commandeur of the Ordre National de Legion d’honneur and the Getty Medal.

Mr. Gehry continues to be actively committed to philanthropic work. He is currently engaged in a number of pro bono design projects. These include the Children’s Institute, a headquarters for a children’s nonprofit located in the heart of the low-income Watts area of Los Angeles; the Jazz Bakery, a nonprofit performance space dedicated to jazz music in Los Angeles; and the Pierre Boulez Concert Hall in Berlin, a performance space for the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra that unites young musicians with diverse backgrounds from around the Middle East. Additionally, Mr. Gehry continues to support a number of charities with causes particularly close to him. These include Turnaround Arts California that works to build arts education programming in under-performing schools, as well as the Hereditary Disease Foundation’s Leslie Brenner Gehry Award.

Mr. Gehry’s notable projects include Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California; Eight Spruce Street Residential Tower located in New York City; Opus Hong Kong Residential; Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France; the Biomuseo in Panama; the Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building for the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; and the West Campus for Facebook in Menlo Park, California. Current projects include: King Street Development in Toronto, Ontario; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Battersea Power Station Development, London; Grand Avenue Development, Los Angeles; Facebook Campuses in New York City, Seattle, London and Dublin; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; the Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.; Sunset Boulevard mixed-use project in Los Angeles; Ocean Avenue project in Santa Monica; and the Los Angeles River revitalization project. Projects under construction include the LUMA / Parc des Ateliers in Arles, France; the Boulez Hall in Berlin, Germany; and an extension for the Facebook West Campus in Menlo Park, California.

About the Annenberg Award

The Annenberg Award was established in 2008 to honor distinguished Americans who have demonstrated a commitment to the arts, and who exhibit long-term excellence and innovation in the exchange of creativity and ideas that represent the rich and diverse culture of the United States. Past honorees include: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer (2009); New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (2010); arts patron Agnes Gund (2011); architect I. M. Pei (2012); philanthropist, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, David Rubenstein (2013); founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Alice Walton (2014); and cellist Yo-Yo Ma (2015). The official Award was designed and contributed by preeminent American artist, Ellsworth Kelly. Carlson Arts LLC donated the fabrication costs. Takaaki Matsumoto donated the design of the Award’s base.

About the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies

FAPE is the public-private partnership dedicated to providing permanent works of American art for U.S. embassies worldwide, through site-specific commissions, original print and photography collections, preservation projects and other arts and education initiatives. FAPE contributes to the U.S. Department of State’s mission of cultural diplomacy by partnering with American artists whose gifts encourage cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public. All artworks commissioned or placed by FAPE are gifts, representing the generosity and patriotism of some of the country’s greatest artists and donors. As of 2016, FAPE’s contributions include permanent works by more than 200 preeminent American artists placed in more than 140 countries.

FAPE was founded in 1986 by Leonore Annenberg, Wendy W. Luers, Lee Kimche McGrath and Carol Price. Its current leadership includes Chairman Jo Carole Lauder, President Eden Rafshoon, Vice President Darren Walker, and Director Jennifer A. Duncan. A volunteer advisory committee chaired by Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art, selects and commissions all FAPE artists. FAPE underwrites the fabrication and installation, and is exclusively funded through individual, foundation and corporate donations. Additional information about FAPE can be found at FAPEGlobal.org