VISIONARIES OF GIVING

Illustrations by Montse Bernal

2017 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients are honored for their “awe-inspiring” munificence

On Tuesday, October 3, 2017, a beautiful fall afternoon, more than 300 distinguished guests — including Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian, Yo-Yo Ma, and Big Bird! — gathered in the Beaux-Arts splendor of The New York Public Library to salute nine remarkable men and women, the recipients of the 2017 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. In tribute to Andrew Carnegie’s Scottish heritage, a bagpiper led the procession of the medalists into the elegant Celeste Bartos Forum. President Gregorian detailed the exceptional achievements of the “class” of 2017, saluting them as “living examples of Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropic legacy,” whose munificence is not only “remarkable, but awe-inspiring.”

A portfolio of original portraits of the 2017 medalists — specially commissioned for the Carnegie Reporter — by acclaimed Barcelona-based artist Montse Bernal offers a colorful tribute to these visionary philanthropists.