The Missouri Arts Council has selected the recipients of the
2018 Missouri Arts Awards. Honorees were recognized for their profound and
lasting contributions to the artistic and cultural legacy of the state in the
categories of Arts Education, Arts Organization, Creative Community, Individual
Artist, Leadership in the Arts, and Philanthropy.
The awards will be presented in a public ceremony on
February 7, 2018, in the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City.
Arts Education | Jeff Sanquist, Rolla
A force for the arts in Rolla and across the state in 1983 as a classroom music teacher, choral director, program designer, policy developer and advocate, and leader of professional organizations including his current chairing of the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education
Arts Organization | Ragtag Film Society, Columbia
Champion of independent media art, each year offering 3,000-plus screenings at
Ragtag Cinema, producing the globally renowned True/False documentary Film
Fest, and partnering vigorously with fellow nonprofits, educational
organizations, media outlets, civic groups, and businesses
Creative Community | The Delmar Loop, University City and
St. Louis
Mile-and-a-half stretch of Delmar Blvd. teeming with arts organizations, art
galleries, one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants, and entertainment venues from
music clubs to an arthouse cinema—rich in social, ethnic, and cultural
diversity—a community convening place
Individual Artist | Solomon L. Thurman, St. Louis
Artist, researcher, and teacher whose three-decade body of
work brings art, history, and community together through paintings, drawings,
and sculptures that tell stories of the African diaspora in America, drawn from
historical events and his own family’s past
Leadership in the Arts | Sharon G. Kosek, St.
Joseph
Inexhaustible volunteer dedicated for four decades to every facet of the arts
in her community, from chairing fundraising campaigns for the Allied Arts
Council, to designing banners for the Saint Joseph Symphony, to weeding the
gardens at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art
Philanthropy | Tom and Cathy Sakiyama, Chesterfield
Mainstay of several regional theatre companies especially STAGES St. Louis:
donating substantial funds, sponsoring performances, providing resources for
underserved students, underwriting meals for cast and staff, hosting
out-of-town actors, doing hands-on volunteer work
Since founding the Missouri Arts Awards in 1983, the
Missouri Arts Council and the State of Missouri have honored 207 people,
organizations, and communities throughout the state.
Awards recipients are selected from public nominations by an
independent panel of Missourians representing the arts community throughout the
state. These panelists selected the 2018 honorees:
- Marie
Nau Hunter, chair, Columbia | member, Missouri Arts Council and Trust Board
- Evelyn
Craft Belger, Kansas City | director,
Belger Arts Center and Belger Crane Yard Studio; president and CEO, Belger
Cartage Service (2017 Philanthropy Co-Honoree)
- Jerry
Ford, Cape Girardeau | director, The Jerry Ford Orchestra (2017 Individual
Artist Honoree)
- Sharon
Gray, St. Joseph | vocal arts teacher and arts volunteer
- Jack
Lane, St. Louis | executive producer, STAGES St. Louis (2016 Arts Organization
Honoree)
- Diana
Moxon, Columbia | executive director, Columbia Art League (2015 Arts
Organization Honoree)
- Jo
Mueller, Joplin | retired executive director, George A. Spiva for the Arts
(2016 Leadership in the Arts
Honoree)
About the Missouri Arts Council
The Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The Council provides support to nonprofit organizations through grants that meet strategic goals:
- Engage people in meaningful arts experiences
- Grow Missouri’s economy using the arts
- Strengthen Missouri education through the arts
The Missouri Arts Council awards grants to organizations to stimulate the growth, development, and appreciation of the arts in Missouri. This funding makes possible quality arts programming to communities throughout the state. In addition to financial assistance, the council provides expertise in community development, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, arts education, artistic disciplines (visual arts, music, literature, theater, dance, festivals, and film/media), and more.
For more information, visit www.missouriartscouncil.org.
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