Medal of Arts winner: Dance has made "an important contribution to our world"

Jacob's Pillow Director Ella Baff receives National Medal of Arts from Pres. Barack Obama

Ella Baff, executive and artistic director of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass., accepted a National Medal of Arts at the White House on behalf of her organization. Among the ten arts-world awardees, including Van Cliburn, Meryl Streep, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones and James Taylor among others, Jacob's Pillow was the sole organization to be honored. It's the only dance presenter to garner the medal since the awards were first handed out in 1984.

Here is what Ms. Baff said (as quoted by Debra Levine March 4 on the artsmeme blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-levine/post_1787_b_830561.html:

"Less is known about dance than the other art forms, and there are many reasons why. I hope this visibility will carry meaning beyond the day, and that people will become more aware about dance," she added. "It's a real profession, and it's made an important contribution to our world."