Arts United Awards

Eligibility

Nominees should be individuals, teams, and/or organizations who are making artistic and cultural contributions to one or more communities located within the 12-county region of Northeast Indiana that includes Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Miami, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, and Whitley counties.

Examples of previous award recipients include:

• Advocates
• Artists
• Board Members
• Businesses
• Collaborations
• Communities
• Educators
• Leaders
• Neighborhoods
• Organizations
• Philanthropists
• Schools
• Staff Members
• Volunteers

Potential nominees are both allowed and encouraged to nominate themselves!

Areas of Recognition

In 2021, Arts United shifted away from specific award categories in order to recognize as many outstanding nominees as possible. Some categories have remained, such as the Margaret Ann Keegan Award for Arts Education, Lifetime Achievement, and Mayor’s Arts Award. The review committee will work diligently to identify potential recipients for these awards out of the annual pool of nominees.

The 2023 Awards will continue to highlight the following Areas of Recognition:

• IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) – Recognizing individuals, teams, and organizations that demonstrate significant work in Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access.
• Innovation, Creativity, and/or Artistry – Recognizing individuals, teams, and organizations that contribute to the communities of Northeast Indiana in ways that are especially innovative and/or creative, as well as those who demonstrate exceptional artistry within their medium of art.
• Leadership – Recognizing individuals, teams, and/or organizations that demonstrate extraordinary leadership, advocacy, philanthropy, or volunteerism.
• Arts Education and Community Engagement – Recognizing individuals, teams, and/or organizations that make an exceptional contribution to the people they serve through arts or cultural programming.

Nominee Evaluation

Nominations are reviewed by an all-volunteer committee of community members, with committee members assigning points to each nominee based on the following criteria, with a possible total of 100 points:

• 40 Points – Extent to which the nominee embodies one or more Areas of Recognition (see above).
• 20 Points – Significance of the contribution and/or achievement.
  What sort of impact did the nominee’s contribution / achievement have on the community?
  Why do you feel this contribution and/or achievement is important?
• 20 Points – Breadth and/or depth of the population served.
  Does the contribution / achievement broadly affect a wide portion of the population, or deeply affect a narrower portion of the population?
• 20 Points – Degree of creativity and/or innovation.
  What was different or unique about the nominee’s contribution / achievement? Did they create something brand new? Were they able to push limits beyond what others in similar positions have accomplished?

Nomination Questions

1. Contact information for both the nominee and nominator (including name, mailing address, email, and phone).
2. Please provide a short bio for your nominee.
3. Which Area of Recognition does the nominee most embody, and why? Feel free to identify more than one Area of Recognition when applicable. Be sure to reference specific contributions / achievements.
4. Please describe the significance of the nominee’s contribution / achievement. What impact did it have on the community? Why do you feel this contribution / achievement is important?
5. Please describe the breadth and/or depth of the population served by the nominee. Did their contribution/achievement broadly affect a wide portion of the population, or deeply affect a narrower portion of the population.
6. What was different or unique about the nominee’s contribution / achievement? Did they create something brand new? Were they able to push limits beyond what others in similar positions have accomplished?
7. Optional: Supporting documentation with additional information about the nominee (16MB and 5 page limit)
   • This could include news articles, links to websites, links to videos, publications, photos of their work, letters of recommendation, or other relevant examples that support the accomplishments described in your narrative, or highlight additional accomplishments that you think the Selection Committee should take into consideration.

Submitting a Nomination

Nominations and supporting materials should be submitted using the Submission Form below. Nominations open September 12th, 2022 and are due by October 7th, 2022.

Submit a nomination

Multiple Nominations

Nominators may submit multiple nominations, but should not nominate any nominee more than once.

For More Information

Contact Phil Slane at 260-424-0646 x2016 or pslane@artsunited.org.