Last year, Rasmuson Foundation changed the way they develop the applicant pool for the annual Distinguished Artist award. Now, anyone can nominate an Alaskan artist for the annual $25,000 award by answering a few questions in this online form. (The paper nomination form is also available here.) Artists are welcome to nominate themselves this same way.
Distinguished Artists are “artists who have created an extensive independent body of work representing a life-long investigation and maturation of their personal creativity, and who demonstrate a high aesthetic level of artistic ability with a strong consistency of expression over at least a 15 year professional arts career.” The nomination form and guidelines provide more details.
Those who have received this award in the past are: John Luther Adams (2010), Nathan Jackson (2009), Ron Senungetuk (2008), Rie Muñoz, (2007), Delores Churchill (2006), John Haines (2005) and Sylvester Ayek (2004)
Online nominations for the 2011 Distinguished Artist Award must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on March 1. The postmark deadline is March 1 for paper applications. Only one nomination per artist is needed. Artists are selected for the Distinguished Artist Award solely based on how well they meet the criteria as defined above. The number of nominations an artist receives has no bearing on the likelihood of being selected.