Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum Celebrates Big

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum celebrated the highly-anticipated arrival of its National Medal of Arts medallion with staff today. The museum was recognized with the prestigious honor last October during a ceremony at the White House. The Medal is the highest honor in the arts given by the United States government.

Kyle Young, CEO of the museum, gathered staff in the Ford Theater to thank them for their contributions and acknowledge the many individuals and entities who supported the museum’s educational mission through the years. He also shared his experience accepting the honor on behalf of the institution. Following a staff photo, the newly engraved Medal was placed on display in the museum’s galleries along with the accompanying White House Citation.

The Citation recognized the museum “for cataloguing one of the nation’s great homegrown art forms” and for its enduring work, which “preserves history, honors giants of the genre and inspires future generations to write their own songs about the American story.”

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was named among 20 National Medal of Arts recipients representing2022 and 2023. Primarily awarded to individuals, the museum was the only institution included among the new recipients.

Established by Congress in 1984, the Medal is awarded to individuals or groups who are “deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.”