NEW YORK, NY.- The National Academy announced today its newly elected members, representing some of the most celebrated in their respective fields. Included are Pritzker Prize laureate Renzo Piano; MacArthur Fellows Mark Bradford, Sarah Sze, Fred Wilson; Rome Prize winners Vito Acconci, Carrie Mae Weems, William Pedersen; and Marina Abramović and Christian Marclay, both recipients of the Golden Lion Award for best artist at the Venice Bienniale.

Elected annually by the full body of over 300 National Academicians, the new members are recognized for their contributions to contemporary American art and architecture. "We are thrilled to welcome these extraordinary new members," says Carmine Branagan, Director. "These remarkable artists and architects are outstanding additions to the Academy's historic membership. For each, their impact and influence on American art and architecture is undeniable."

The 2013 Academicians are: artists Marina Abramović, Vito Acconci, Dotty Attie, Alice Aycock, Mark Bradford, Barkley L. Hendricks, Christian Marclay, James Rosenquist, Lorna Simpson, Sarah Sze, Barbara Takenaga, Carrie Mae Weems, Fred Wilson; and architects David Adjaye, Paul Broches, Kate Orff, William Pedersen, Renzo Piano, and Moshe Safdie. The new members will be inducted in a special ceremony on October 29, 2013 at the National Academy.

National Academicians are central to the Academy's mission of promoting art and architecture in America. Each Academician contributes a representative work - the diploma presentation - upon election. These works gifted by Academicians, span the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, form the Academy's ever-evolving permanent collection of over 7,000 art works, as well as architectural drawings, photographs, and models.

The complete historic roster of Academicians includes of over 2,000 artists and architects dating back to the Academy's founding in 1825. They include pioneers of early American art such as Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Frederic Church, as well as later seminal artists and architects including Louise Bourgeois, Thomas Eakins, Frank Gehry, Cass Gilbert, Robert Henri, Jasper Johns, Philip Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, Maya Lin, John Singer Sargent, Robert Rauschenberg, Andrew Wyeth, and many more. The 2012 class included Siah Armajani, Wendy Evans Joseph, Jeanne Gang, Robert Gober, Michaels Graves, Bruce Nauman, Joel Shapiro, Cindy Sherman, Richard Tuttle, and Bill Viola.