Alicia Keys will present to Clive Davis when the music industry legend is among the 2022 Portrait of a Nation award honorees on Nov. 12. The awards are sponsored by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
Established in 2015, the Portrait of a Nation awards honor “extraordinary individuals who have made a transformative impact on the U.S. and its people,” according to its mission statement. Each of the honorees has a portrait, either newly commissioned or acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, that goes into the museum’s collection.
An exhibit of this year’s honorees’ portraits will open on the museum’s first floor on Nov. 10, two days before the award presentations. It will remain on view until October 2023.
Hillary Rodham Clinton will present to honoree Marian Wright Edelman. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson will present to filmmaker Ava DuVernay. The honorees were announced in January. The presenters were announced on Tuesday (Aug. 23).
Davis signed Keys to his J Records in 2000. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, topped the Billboard 200 for three nonconsecutive weeks in 2001 and won five Grammys. Keys has gone on to win 10 additional Grammys.
Davis was the presenter when Earth, Wind & Fire, which he signed to Columbia Records in 1972, received this same award in 2019.
Another of Davis’ notable signees, Patti Smith, was the presenter in 2000 when Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category. Davis signed Smith to Arista Records in 1975.
The National Portrait Gallery also announced that host, writer and comedian Baratunde Thurston will host the evening’s program.
Here’s a complete list of 2022 Portrait of a Nation presenters and honorees.
- Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, will present to chef and activist José Andrés.
- Alicia Keys, Grammy-winning musician, will present to music industry legend Clive Davis.
- Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will present to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and first lady, will present to children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman.
- David M. Rubenstein, businessman and philanthropist, will present to outgoing National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
- Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, will present to tennis champion and entrepreneur Serena Williams.
- Sonya Haffey, interior designer and principal of V Starr, the interior design firm founded by Venus Williams and entrepreneur and film producer Isha Price, will present to tennis champion, entrepreneur and wellness advocate Venus Williams.
