"Spring of Taixing" by Wang Hongjian. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

Each year, eleven jury members select and award one most representative person in the fields mentioned above. Recipients are also appointed as members of the academy in the International Muse Academy. Award ceremonies are held each year in June at Salone dei Cinquecento, a hall that's designed by artists Baccio Bandinelli and Giorgio Vasari, both students of art master Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. As a way of respecting the honored tradition, the recipients are asked to collect the award in person.

Wei Yuncheng, director of the Second Institute of Public Art Research, Beijing University of Technology,contributed to this story.