Laurie Olin, FASLA, was among the National Medal of Arts recipients personally awarded by President Obama during a July 10 ceremony in the East Room of the White House. The award recognizes Olin's contributions as a preeminent landscape architect. The National Endowment for the Arts noted his acute sense of harmony and balance between nature and design, his "dedicated energy to shaping many iconic spaces around the world and to educating new leaders in his art."

On July 10, 2013, President Obama presented the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medals to the 2012 recipients during 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 nominations, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence.

This year's 12 National Medal of Arts recipients includes Laurie Olin, ASLA, the founding partner of the landscape architecture and urban design firm OLIN in Philadelphia www.theolinstudio.com. (See "Classical Form, Human Impact Profile: Laurie Olin, FASLA, Interview by Leslie McGuire, LASN managing editor https://landscapearchitect.com/research/article/13092.

Olin's awards are too numerous and extensive to list, but you find his honors and other activities at www.theolinstudio.com/blog/tag/laurie-olin

Laurie Olin is the fourth landscape architect to receive the medal. The previous honorees are Lawrence Halprin (2002), Dan Kiley (1997), and Ian McHarg (1990).

The event was live streamed at WH.gov/Live. An archive of the video is available on the White House YouTube page www.youtube.com/whitehouse

For the complete list of the 2012 National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medals go to www.nea.gov/news/news13/medals2012.html