The deadline to apply for the Santa Monica Arts Foundation’s second annual Arts Leadership Awards is 5 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013.
The awards recognize exemplary leaders who have supported Santa Monica’s creative community.
The awards are a program of the Santa Monica Arts Foundation—a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing civic engagement and support of the City’s arts and cultural community.
“The vitality of Santa Monica’s culture and economy are in part due to the contributions of arts volunteers, philanthropists, and the creative industry,” said George Minardos, Foundation Chairperson. “By recognizing them with this award, we acknowledge the importance of their contributions and we hope to inspire more community members to get involved with the arts in Santa Monica.”
In 2013, the inaugural year of the program, the Foundation honored Bruria Finkel, Abby Sher, Jon Swihart and Wayne Blank.
The nonmonetary, annual leadership awards honor individuals and businesses in three categories:
Arts Patron Award: An individual or business leader providing extensive support for the arts in Santa Monica.
Artist in the Community/Bruria Finkel Award: An artist who has contributed significantly to Santa Monica’s arts community through activism, patronage, and/or volunteerism.
Creative Community Innovator Award: An individual or small or mid-size commercial creative business contributing to making Santa Monica’s arts and culture sector ‘cutting edge’ through experimentation, design, or cultural sustainability.
Both nominators and nominees must currently live or have a permanent studio/office in Santa Monica. Nominated businesses must be currently licensed and operating in the City. Self-nominations are accepted.
The selection committee will consider the significance of nominees’ contributions and leadership as they reflect the breadth of Santa Monica’s creative community.
Award recipients will be recognized at a ceremony in March or April 2014 and will receive an original artwork by a locally renowned artist.
Guidelines and the nomination form are available at www.smgov.net/artsleaders.
