2023 Governor’s Arts Awards announced; event and statewide watch party celebration scheduled for Oct. 23

The N.H. State Council on the Arts is pleased to announce the individuals and organizations being honored as recipients of the 2023 Governor’s Arts Awards.

Winners of this year’s awards represent the arts in many forms, from music, theatre and sculpture to podcasts and multi-disciplinary projects. They are:

•    Arts Education: Racial Unity Team, Stratham
•    Arts in Health: Currier Museum of Art, Manchester
•    Creative Communities: Creative Guts, Epping
•    Distinguished Arts Leadership: John Weidman, Milford
•    Folk Heritage: Fiddling Thomsons, Lee
•    Individual Arts Champion: the Labrie Family, Portsmouth
•    Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure: Greg Gathers, Portsmouth

The New Hampshire 2023 Governor’s Arts Awards ceremony will be live streamed via the Arts Council’s Facebook and YouTube accounts from StudioLab in Derry, N.H., beginning at 5 p.m. on Oct. 23. In addition to the award presentations, the event will include video profiles of each winner and live music.

Several watch parties are being planned around the state as a way of expanding the celebration widely and enhancing the community aspect of the arts in New Hampshire.

The N.H. Governor’s Arts Awards publicly recognize outstanding contributions to the state’s arts and cultural life made by individuals, organizations and communities and are given every other year. Awardees receive a sculpture designed and created by André Belanger of Berlin that echoes the N.H. State House Eagle, widely considered the first piece of public art in the state.

To be eligible for nominations, individuals must reside in New Hampshire or have made significant contributions to the arts while living in New Hampshire; nominated organizations, cities and towns must be physically located in New Hampshire.

The N.H. Governor’s Arts Awards are non-monetary and the event is supported entirely through private funding.

To learn more about the 2023 Governor’s Arts Awards and to see a list of previous awardees, visit nh.gov/nharts/artsandartists/gaa/index.htm. 

The N.H. State Council on the Arts is a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The State Arts Council provides a wide variety of services, competitive grants, and technical assistance to not-for-profit organizations, schools, health care facilities, and individual artists, helping to ensure that the arts thrive in New Hampshire and are accessible to all. Funding for grants and services is provided by the New Hampshire Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Learn more at nh.gov/nharts.

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