RENO—Every other year, Nevada Humanities honors the achievements of individuals and organizations from across the Silver State that foster cultural enrichment and deepen our understanding of the of the human experience by facilitating opportunities for Nevadan’s to engage with the humanities.
The Little Children Will Lead Them by Fawn Douglas. 2019 Nevada Humanities Awards artwork.
On April 18, 2019, 11 extraordinary individuals and organizations will be honored for their outstanding contributions to Nevada’s communities using the tools of the humanities to strengthen and enhance the lives of the people of Nevada.
The 2019 Nevada Humanities Awards recipients include:
Judith F. Simpson (Reno) and Claytee D. White (Las Vegas) are jointly awarded the Judith Winzeler Award for Excellence in the Humanities. The Capital City Arts Initiative (Carson City) and Monique Laxalt (Reno) are jointly awarded the Friend and Champion of the Humanities Award.
Our new 2019 award category, the Humanities Rising Star Award, which recognizes people who have made contributions to the humanities in Nevada and have demonstrated the potential for leadership and continuing service to increase awareness and appreciation for the humanities in Nevada. The inaugural Humanities Rising Star Award goes to Justin Favela (Las Vegas), Melissa Melero-Moose (Sparks), Vogue M. Robinson (North Las Vegas), and Mark Salinas (Carson City).
The Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award is jointly awarded to Colene Paradise (Owyhee) and Brett M. Van Hoesen (Reno). The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Western Folklife Center (Elko) is awarded the Outstanding Humanities Project Award.
“We are honored to recognize the amazing talent, enthusiasm, and life changing work of our state’s 2019 humanities awardees,” said Christina Barr, executive director of Nevada Humanities. “Now more than ever, we share the belief that the humanities help us make sense of our lives and our world, and that they are the fabric of our cultures and the foundation of our human connections. The achievements of these extraordinary individuals only reinforces the transformative power of the humanities to contribute to healthy and vibrant communities throughout our state.”
In celebration of the creativity and sense of place the awardees have helped foster, the 11 awards being presented are original mixed media paintings by Fawn Douglas, a contemporary, indigenous artist from the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. The Children Will Lead Them, Douglas’ series of original paintings of bighorn sheep created for the 2019 Nevada Humanities Awards, express for her the importance of family, community, and faith in the future.
Each of the 11 awardees will be on hand to accept their awards during the ceremony held at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno on Thursday, April 18, 2019, with a reception beginning at 4:30 pm, and the awards program beginning at 6:00 pm. The awards presentations will be preceded by celebrational poetry readings by Nevada poets. Space is very limited, and $20 tickets are required for this award ceremony at the Nevada Museum of Art. Purchase tickets to the award ceremony by visiting nevadahumanities.org by April 11.
About Nevada Humanities: Nevada Humanities is one of 56 independent, nonprofit state and territorial humanities councils affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities. With offices in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada Humanities creates public programs and supports public projects statewide that define the Nevada experience and facilitate the exploration of issues that matter to Nevadans and their communities.
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