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
• …and anyone else who adds value to arts and culture in our community!

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 will remain – such as the Margaret Ann Keegan Award for Arts Education, or Lifetime Achievement – but the Selection Committee will work diligently to honor those individuals based on a separate set of criteria. There’s nothing extra you need to do in the nomination process!

However, the 2022 Awards will specifically highlight:

• 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.

When crafting your nomination, be sure to highlight any accomplishments the nominee had in one or more of these areas throughout 2021!

Evaluation Criteria

Nominations are reviewed by an all-volunteer committee of community members using any of the following criteria:

• Extent to which the nominee embodies one or more Areas of Recognition
• Significance of the contribution and/or achievement
• Breadth and/or depth of the population served
  Tip: Does the contribution / achievement broadly affect a wide portion of the population, or deeply affect a narrower portion of the population?
• Degree of creativity and/or innovation

Information Required

1. Contact information for both the nominee and nominator (including name, mailing address, email, and phone)
2. Nomination: please tell us about the nominee and why they should be recognized
   • Tip: Remember, the story you share may be all we know about the nominee! Our Committee will not be conducting additional research to learn more. Please provide specific information illustrating the nominee’s accomplishments.
   • Note to Nominators: Supporting materials may or may not be utilized in the creation of this material.
3. 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 7, 2021 and are due by October 12, 2021.

 

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.