Esperanza Spalding American Ingenuity Award 2012

Bassist, vocalist, composer and bandleader Esperanza Spalding has won a Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Award in the category of performing arts. The first annual Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Awards honor nine groundbreaking individuals in technology, performing and visual arts, natural and physical sciences, education, historical scholarship, social progress and youth achievement. The awards, designed by Pulitzer Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne, were presented at a gala event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC on November 28, 2012.