2010 Viola Awards - Rocked the House

Now THAT was a party.

Flagstaff supports the arts with much love and enthusiasm. At the 2nd Annual Viola Awards for Excellence in the Arts, over 330 people celebrated and honored 108 nominees and 10 award recipients. The audience - made up of nominees, artists, and sponsors / supporters of the arts - was at times raucous, full of spirit, supportive of each other, and downright fun.

Let's see if I can recap the night with a little bulleted list:

• A really touching moment came early in the night when Michael Kabotie was given the Lifetime Contribution to the Arts Viola Award post-humously. Ruth Ann Border, his partner at the time of his death, came to the stage to accept the award. She whispered to me, shakin' with tears, "I don't know if I can make it up there."
• After Pickin' in the Pines receives the Viola Award for Outstanding Arts Event, one of our Board members, Darcy Falk approached me. Darcy also works for Pickin' in the Pines, handling their promotion. She was in tears, happy. "You do know how to keep a secret!" she says, since I gave her no indication that this award was coming. I love it.
• The folks at Martanne's caught their table on fire! They put it out quickly, but it was funny and a little alarming.
  
• When they were reading the "slow reveal" bio of the winner for Performing Arts, a loud, high pitched and awkward yelp! came from Becky Daggett as she realized that Linda Sutera was going to take the award. Really funny.
• The crowd's response to Craig Bowie (pictured) winning Arts in Education was epic. Loudest cheer I've heard from a crowd that size, ever. People love that guy.
• The Mayor's Award going to the Museum of Northern Arizona was just awesome. Robert Breunig, their Director, and their whole team deserve the kudos for what they have done over the last five years. MNA was in the midst of its most difficult and challenging crisis - they had lost their accreditation and their entire Board resigned. It was a mess. From that, though, Robert and his crew rebuilt the integrity of the Museum by focusing on their core values, and sticking to them in a way most institutions don't. They earned back their accreditation, and also built the Easton Collections Center through a process that involved and respected the voices of so many who value MNA. This is not only a come-back story, but a story of an institution that knows how to respect the values of the diverse communities it serves.
  

The full results of the Viola Awards are posted online, along with photos of the event and photos of the amazing awards, crafted by ceramicist, Ellen Tibbetts. She's awesome - you need to see all of these awards.

Thanks to everyone who made the Viola Awards such a rousing success this year!

Cheers,
JT

ps. here's a link to the Arizona Daily Sun article about the Viola Awards event.