I am honored to be the recipient of the 2010 National Arts Club Gold Medal of Honor for Magic. The award will be presented at a dinner ceremony on October 5, 2010 at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, NYC.

Tickets to this special event will be available in August, and I’ll post information here when I know more. Distinguished guests and presenters will be in attendance to present my award, and I plan to give a special performance!

This charming private club, housed in a 19th century townhouse, was my first “campus” for Chamber Magic in 2000 and 2001. I love this place. Tiffany glass ceilings, rich mahogany paneled walls, and oriental carpets transport you back in time to the grand days of old New York.

It was founded in 1898 to “stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts.”

Here’s the room where I began Chamber Magic:

Beyond the fact that I’m honored to have been selected to receive this award, I’m even more impressed that this institution, through issuing such an award, has recognized magic as legitimate performance art. There has been a long-running dialog among magicians as to whether magic is an art or a craft… I hope that this award is a step towards increasing the awareness of magic as one of the arts, and raising magic’s visibility in the eyes of the public.

Side note: Next door to the National Arts Club is the well-known Players Club, where the John Mulholland library was housed. The Mulholland collection contained over 4000 pieces of magic apparatus, literature and memorabilia. His superb collection remained at the Players Club until 1984 when it was purchased by David Copperfield.