Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award

The Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award honors an individual at the state level whose arts advocacy efforts have dramatically affected the political landscape.

Arts Education Award

The Arts Education Award recognizes transformational leadership in arts education through strategic planning, strong programming, and the engagement of partners to achieve community goals.

Emerging Leader Award

The American Express Emerging Leader Award 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.

Thanks to the generous support of American Express, Americans for the Arts is pleased to be able to offer the American Express Emerging Leader Award recipient round-trip airline travel to our Annual Convention and four nights of accommodation at the convention headquarters hotel.

Michael Newton Award

The Michael Newton Award 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.

Selina Roberts Ottum Award

The Selina Roberts Ottum Award recognizes an individual working in arts management who has made a meaningful contribution to their local community and who exemplifies extraordinary leadership qualities.

Robert E. Gard Award

The Robert E. Gard Award celebrates exemplary work at the intersection of the arts and community life. It aims to raise up projects from the last year lead by individuals or organizations working to cross the arts into other aspects of community life in meaningful, measurable ways.

Archived Awards

Public Art Network Award

From 2004 to 2020, the Public Art Network Award recognized an individual or organization that demonstrated innovative and creative contributions and/or exemplary commitment and leadership in the field of public art. This award is now succeeded by the Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design.