Piedmont Arts Receives "50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Award"

Piedmont Arts Receives “50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Award” from Virginia Commission for the Arts

Piedmont Arts is proud to announce that it has been named a “50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Award” recipient by the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

For fifty years, the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) has supported and celebrated the vibrant arts culture that is critical to living, learning, and thriving economically in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The "50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Awards" are designed to recognize programs, individuals, and organizations critical to the arts in Virginia. Award recipients were selected from a pool of over 350 nominees by a panel of former Commissioners and arts leaders and confirmed by the full Board of the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Piedmont Arts won in the “Bedrock Institutions” category, which includes organizations that have been in existence more than ten years; have demonstrated a benefit to the economic health and or tourism in the community; exhibit artistic excellence; celebrate diversity; and showcase Virginia as a cultural destination.

“Piedmont Arts is honored to be named a 50 for 50 Arts Inspiration award winner,” said Director of Marketing, Communications and Design Bernadette Moore. “The museum would like to thank the Virginia Commission for the Arts for this honor and all those whose support has helped to shape the museum into a bedrock institution in Martinsville-Henry County.”

“It is an honor for Piedmont Arts to receive a ‘50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Award’ from the VCA,” said Staples. “The collaboration of the executive director, staff, board of directors, corporate donors and the many volunteers allows Piedmont Arts to positively impact Martinsville, Henry County and the surrounding areas. To be selected from a pool of 350 worthy nominations, that’s amazing and humbling.”

Piedmont Arts will be honored alongside other state arts leaders and supporters at a special reception this fall for a Celebration of the Arts at the Executive Mansion with Governor Terry McAuliffe and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe.

In January 2018, the Commission will hold a 50th Anniversary Program for arts organizations across the state at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, during which the 50 for 50 Arts Inspiration award recipients will be officially recognized for their achievements.

The VCA stated in a release, “The designated 'Arts Inspirations' may have played a critical role in the last 50 years, serve as today’s leaders and exemplars, or may be tomorrow’s visionaries, leading the way to a bright future. We are indeed fortunate in Virginia to have an abundant and diverse roster of outstanding artists and organizations and their supporters spanning disciplines and decades. The 50 selected winners are representative of the best, but this list is far from definitive. Every day in communities across the Commonwealth, thousands of people benefit from the creative energies and pursuit of excellence that characterize Virginia artists and arts organizations."

View a complete list of 50 for 50 Arts Inspiration award recipients here.