The American Express Emerging Leader Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes visionary leadership by an individual who is a new and/or young arts leader who demonstrates an ability to engage and impact their community. The 2021 honoree is Christine Her, Executive Director of ArtForce Iowa.

The Arts Education Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes transformational leadership in arts education through strategic planning, strong programming, and the engagement of partners to achieve community goals. The 2021 honoree is Jean Tokuda Irwin, Arts Education Program Manager for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. 

The Selina Roberts Ottum Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes an individual working in arts management who has made a meaningful contribution to their local community and who exemplifies extraordinary leadership qualities. The 2021 honoree is Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer, Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts. 

The Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and honors an individual at the state level whose arts advocacy efforts have dramatically affected the political landscape. The 2021 awardee is Julie Baker, Executive Director, Californians for the Arts and California Arts Advocates (Sacramento). 

The Michael Newton Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes an individual for their innovation in developing arts and business partnerships for the arts and/or long-term achievement in effective and creative techniques to engage the private sector. The 2021 honoree is Alma Robinson, Executive Director of California Lawyers for the Arts. 

Americans for the Arts today announced that New York-based artist Vinnie Bagwell has been awarded the inaugural Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design, a first-of-its-kind national program established by the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation. The award will include a cash stipend of $30,000, as well as additional support for Bagwell to participate in learning opportunities and discussion about her work with national leaders in the arts and other allied fields. These programs include a virtual panel about art and civic design in celebration of the Public Art Network’s 20th anniversary, held on December 3 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. 

Americans for the Arts mourns the loss of artist Luchita Hurtado, who died at her home in Santa Monica, California, on August 13, at age 99. Hurtado was awarded the Carolyn Clark Powers Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 National Arts Awards. 

The theme of this week is the Annual Convention + Public Art & Civic Design Conference! More than 850 of you attended our first-ever virtual convening June 23-25, which featured 100 panelists speaking in 50 breakout sessions and four keynotes, plus presentations of our Annual Leadership Awards and the announcement of a brand-new public art prize.

Americans for the Arts has announced Red Door Project’s Evolve, a live performance experience based in Portland, Oregon, as the 2020 recipient of The Robert E. Gard Award. The award recognizes exemplary projects from the last year led by individuals or organizations who demonstrate a commitment to intersecting the arts with other sectors of community life in meaningful and measurable ways.

Rick Lowe is a Houston-based artist and professor of art at the University of Houston, best known for his Project Row Houses community-based art project that he started in Houston in 1993. President Barack Obama appointed Rick to the National Council on the Arts in 2013; in 2014 he was named a MacArthur Fellow. 

Christen Boone is the President & CEO of the Fund for the Arts in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the country’s largest privately funded regional arts agencies. She has developed thousands of unique partnerships between the creative and private sectors, driving workplace culture, client cultivation, project innovation, DEI initiatives, and social impact. 

Ann S. Graham brings a strong set of leadership skills to her work as the Executive Director of Texans for the Arts and she has demonstrated a deep passion for the arts and the role that they play in building and strengthening our communities. 

Helen Eaton has served as Settlement Music School’s CEO since 2010. One of the largest community schools of the arts in the country, Settlement has a 112-year history of arts education without barriers, providing over $2.6 million in financial aid every year to its students. 

Janet T. Langsam is the CEO of ArtsWestchester, an organization that financially and promotionally supports all of the arts in Westchester County through  government, corporate and institutional partnerships. She has helped grow the organization to a $4.9 million agency and has made the arts more visible, diverse, and accessible for residents.  

Gina Rodríguez-Drix (she/hers) is the Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism. Gina’s professional and creative practices are rooted in her fervent passion for social, environmental and reproductive justice and a commitment to her hometown.