awards for arts achievement

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, playwright, teacher, and author who has created a groundbreaking new form of theater that is part journalism, part theater. Most of her plays take controversial subjects and presents them from multiple points of view—she has played as many as 46 characters in the course of an evening. Of Ms. Smith's performance in her Broadway show, Twilight: Los Angeles, The New York Times said, "[She is] the ultimate impressionist: she does people's souls." She has also acted in film and television, and is best known for her recurring role as National Security Advisor Nancy McNally on NBC's former hit show, The West Wing.

Her work in the theater has garnered her several awards, among them the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, two Tony nominations, and two Obies. Her books include Letters to a Young Artist, Talk to Me, and several published plays. Ms. Smith is currently university professor at New York University , where she holds an appointment with the Tisch School of the Arts in Performance Studies and is also affiliated with the School of Law. She was previously on the faculty at Stanford University (1990–2000).

Ms. Smith is the founder of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, which supports the development of artistic works that deal with social issues. The project was funded in large part by the Ford Foundation, initially launched at Harvard, where it convened for three summers, and is now housed at NYU. She holds several honorary degrees—among them from Northwestern, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, Holy Cross, and Cooper Union, to name a few.

Ms. Smith currently serves on the board of the Museum of Modern Art, where she chairs the Committee on Film, and is a member of the Americans for the Arts Artists Committee.