Awardees 2011

Addison Gallery of American Art

Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover MA – The Addison Gallery’s collection of American art is one of the most comprehensive in the world, including some 16,750 objects spanning the 18th century to the present. The museum is committed to serving the public through free admission as well as education and exhibitions programs that reach diverse audiences. The Addison is located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, the independent boarding school that Paul Monette attended on full scholarship.

Coinciding with what would have been Paul’s 50th reunion, the Addison will present a small exhibition in honor of Paul in the spring of 2013. Thanks to the support of Louis Wiley, a friend and classmate of Paul’s, the Addison has assembled a small but growing collection of works made by gay artists that explore gay identity, activism, and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Featuring photographs by artists such as Duane Michals, Mark Morrisroe, and David Wojnarowicz, this exhibition will explore a variety of artistic responses to the compelling issues of our time as well as pay tribute to Paul, an American author, poet, and activist.   https://addison.andover.edu/

Joycelyn Elders

Joycelyn Elders, Chair in Sexual Health Education, Program in Human Sexuality, University of Minnesota – M. Joycelyn Elders, MD, is a great-granddaughter of slaves and was raised in Arkansas by her sharecropping parents in a three-room shack with no electricity or plumbing. At 15 she received a scholarship to attend college in Little Rock. Upon graduation at 18, she entered the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. Through the GI Bill, she went to medical school (UAMS) and was the only African American woman in her class.

Elders was nominated as the first African American Surgeon General of the US Public Health Service by President Clinton in 1993. As the 15th Surgeon General, Elders argued the case for universal health coverage and was a spokesperson for President Clinton’s health care reform effort. She has been a strong advocate for comprehensive sexual health education in schools, and she has been an advocate in defense of erotic minority people. Her unabashed public opinions on controversial topics such as her support of drug-user decriminalization, legalization of marijuana, free contraception distribution for all American high school students, reaffirming women’s rights to chose abortion, equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans, and advocacy of masturbation as a safe-sex behavior, was all too much for the American conservatives, as well as the then adulterer president.

Since leaving her post as Surgeon General, Elders has remained a prominent figure in the public discourse around human sexuality and has been a champion for comprehensive sexuality education, reproductive rights, and sexual rights. Elders has returned to the University of Minnesota as an active member of the Program in Human Sexuality’s Leadership Council. She also serves on the Trojan Sexual Health Advisory Council and the African American Health Alliance. Elders has said, “They accused me of wanting to teach children how to masturbate. We don’t have to teach children how to masturbate: God teaches them. Program in Human Sexuality, University of Minnesota     [f]