ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The arts are an important part of people’s lives, and the State of Kansas would like to help honor Kansas artists who have helped with that.
The Kansas Arts Commission (KAC) is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 Kansas Governor's Arts Awards, and KAC Director Curtis Young said there is a lot to be excited about.
“The Governor's Arts Awards were originally presented by the Kansas Arts Commission beginning in 1975, and they were presented annually until 2011,” Young said. “After a hiatus of slightly more than a decade, the Kansas arts community gets to come together again and celebrate itself and be celebrated by the state of Kansas for all the great work done. I think it's very, very exciting. In fact, most states in the U.S. have some sort of awards program like ours run by an agency like ours. When Lt. Governor [David] Toland suggested the Kansas Governor's Arts Awards come back, it showed wonderfully reinvigorated support for the arts and culture community in Kansas. There's nothing more exciting for us, and this is a great way for the state's artists and art community to be highlighted.”
The awards ceremony will be Feb. 20, 2025 in Topeka, and nominations are being accepted in 12 different categories: Arts Advocate of the Year (an individual who actively works to educate the public and/or government at local, state, or national levels on the value and impact of the arts), Arts Community of the Year (a city, town, neighborhood, or community recognized for its strong support and integration of the arts in local culture), Arts Leader of the Year (an individual demonstrating extraordinary leadership and vision in advancing the arts), Arts Organization of the Year (an organization recognized for exemplary work in the arts, whether through significant artistic achievement or substantial contributions to the growth and vitality of the arts), Arts Patron of the Year (an individual who generously supports the arts through financial contributions, in-kind donations, or dedicated volunteer efforts, without being directly involved as an artist or administrator), Emerging Arts Leader of the Year (an early-career professional who exhibits leadership and significant potential for future impact in the arts), Emerging Arts Organization of the Year (a newly established or developing organization making significant strides in the arts and growing in influence), Excellence in Arts Education (an educator, arts education program, or organization recognized for long-term excellence and innovation in arts education), Excellence in the Arts in Business (a business or corporation demonstrating outstanding and sustained support of the arts), Excellence in Public Service in the Arts (a government official at the local, state, or federal level who has shown exceptional support and advocacy for the arts), Kansas Arts Legacy Award (an individual or organization with a lifetime of long-standing, significant impact on the arts in Kansas and/or beyond, enriching the cultural landscape through artistic achievements, leadership, philanthropy, or advocacy over many years. This award may be given posthumously), and Excellence in Artistic Achievement in Dance, Literature (includes all creative writing forms), Media Arts (includes film, video, audio, kinetic digital arts, interactive media, and other related forms), Music, Theatre, Visual Arts (includes painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, drawing, crafts, public art, and other related forms), and Other Art Forms.
Nominations will be accepted through Dec. 13, and the nomination form is available at https://www.kansascommerce.gov/2025-governors-arts-awards-nomination-form.
Young said he has high yet flexible expectations for the awards.
“I hope we get nominations from all across the state, because arts and culture don't just happen in Wichita or the more heavily populated areas of the state, they happen everywhere throughout Kansas,” Young said. “There's arts and culture work happening all across Kansas, and we hope to be able to shine a spotlight on individuals and organizations throughout the state. My dream would be for us to get more nominations than we know what to do with. Considering this is our first year back after such a long hiatus, I don't fully expect THAT to happen, but I do feel like we'll probably get a fair amount of nominations from throughout the state. These awards are something the arts community throughout Kansas has been wanting to see come back, and I've been hearing a lot of chatter and excitement, so I feel like we'll have some good participation numbers. And I hope those numbers would grow as we keep up with this as time goes on. I'm really looking forward to the ceremony itself, which will be at the zoo in Topeka, which is a beautiful facility, and a lot of people don't know about it, and there is KAC funding available for zoos and other similar facilities. We're excited to be able to partner with a great local arts organization to present these awards in such a fantastic space, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the performances we're planning for, some of which are still being finalized.”
Young emphasized the importance of the Kansas Governor's Arts Awards and for the arts in general.
“The Governor's Arts Awards are the highest state award that can be bestowed on an individual or organization for the work they do in arts and culture, and it's an award from the State of Kansas, so it's a big deal,” Young said. “Not only is this something that could go on an artist's résumé as they look for ways to promote their work, but it's a great sign of the support of the governor's office and the Kansas Arts Commission. I also think it's a great show of support for the artistic community for the people of Kansas, and that's what's exciting to me, because it's a stamp of approval, so to speak, not from the government, but from the people. Arts and culture play such an important role in life as a whole, and this is a way for us to promote that in a wonderful way, especially since we haven't had these awards for so long.”
Along with the upcoming awards, Young said he and his staff are excited to continue spreading the word about Kansas’ artistic community.
“Something that really needs to be highlighted at this point in time is our current partnership with KTWU in Topeka, which is the PBS station. We've collaborated with them to create a series called ‘The LG Desk Concerts,’ which is a series of intimate performances by musicians and other artists in the lieutenant governor's office in the Kansas Statehouse,” Young said. “We've done six episodes so far, and there are more we're working on finalizing, and we hope the show will be picked up by the other PBS stations throughout the state. That collaboration is really exciting because we want to showcase the great talent that is either in Kansas or originated in Kansas, and we want to showcase EVERYTHING. The Kansas Arts Commission is here to support the artists of Kansas, the artistic organizations in Kansas, and everyone involved in those communities, because we want to bring arts and culture to everyone possible. We're proud to be able to do that, and we do that in a number of ways beyond awards and those events, including with grant funding. We distribute a lot of funds to arts and culture organizations throughout the state, and I hope more people will look at our funding opportunities and go for them, because we want to give them this money.”
