One of the richest prizes in the arts, the $300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, is being awarded to the artist Maya Lin.
Ms. Lin, who first caught the world’s attention in 1981 with her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will collect the award at a private event at the Museum of Modern Art on Nov. 12.
The prize, now in its 21st year, was established by Lillian Gish’s will, and it is given annually to “a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.”
Ms. Lin was chosen from among 100 nominees in all fields of the arts. The playwright David Henry Hwang was the chairman of the selection committee.
“With her design for the Vietnam Memorial, Maya Lin created arguably the most important piece of public art of our time,” he said. “Since then, she has continued to achieve greatness, through a singular vision which has come to embrace her passionate concern for the environment – in America, China and throughout the planet.”
Ms. Lin is currently engaged with an ongoing multisite work, “What Is Missing?,” which combines art and science to increase awareness about the loss of biodiversity and natural habitats.
Ms. Lin said the award would help her continue that work. “Because I have been donating so much of my time over the past seven years to a single long-term project, ‘What is Missing?,’ the award will make an enormous difference in enabling me to move the work forward.”
Last year’s prize winner was Spike Lee.