Chilean-born visual artist, architect and filmmaker Alfredo Jaar is this year’s recipient of the 65th annual Edward MacDowell Medal.

The medal is awarded annually to an artist whose body of work continues to provide impact and inspiration to other artists and to the public.  Jaar will receive the award for his contributions to American culture in the field of visual arts. His photographs, films and installations confront socio-political issues such as genocide, the displacement of refugees, war, corruption and economic inequality.

Jaar will be celebrated during a free public outdoor celebration on Sunday, June 29, featuring activations of his work and open studios with MacDowell’s artists-in-residence. Ned Rifkin, author and curator, will present the medal.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award, following in the footsteps of so many extraordinary intellectuals who have inspired me throughout my career. I am truly moved and humbled,” stated Jaar.

“MacDowell is honored to celebrate Alfredo Jaar with the 2025 Edward MacDowell Medal,” stated Chiwoniso Kaitano, executive director of macDowell. “Over four decades, Jaar’s singular contribution to the world of visual arts has pushed the boundaries of our collective consciousness. His work at the intersection of art and social justice is more necessary than ever before. We look forward to Jaar joining our MacDowell community in celebration this summer in Peterborough.”

Jaar joins visual arts medal winners that include Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, Georgia O’Keefe, Charles Gaines, Edward Hopper, Betye Saar, Nam June Paik, Kiki Smith, and Jasper Johns.

Sarah Arison, president of the Arison Arts Foundation and board president of MoMA, chaired this year’s selection panel, which included Michi Jigarjian, Connie Butler, Derrick Adams, Franklin Sirmans, Koyo Kouoh, Dahlia El-Sayed and José Parlá.

“Our panel was unanimous in our decision to recognize Alfredo Jaar as one of the leading contemporary artists working today,” Arison stated. “His work is both innovative and uncompromising as it examines our relationship to the world and engages with some of the most urgent questions of our time.”

MacDowell has awarded the medal annually since 1960 to members of the art world whose body of work has influenced generations of other artists as well as the public. Past honorees include Thornton Wilder, Toni Morrison, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, David Lynch, Nan Goldin, Robert Frank, Sonny Rollins and Yoko Ono.

The presentation of the Edward MacDowell Medal in the Arts is a free, public event that often draws more than 1,000 visitors from around the country to MacDowell’s 450-acre wooded campus. It is the one day each year the grounds are open to the public, and it offers art-lovers the opportunity to visit 31 open, working studios to see art being created and speak with the artists-in-residence.

MacDowell is on the Bloomberg Connects app, and the public can download a free digital guide to MacDowell to plan their Medal Day.