FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 20, 2019

City of Kingston Arts Commission Accepting Nominations for
Distinguished Artist Award

KINGSTON, NY -- The City of Kingston Department of Art & Cultural Affairs and the Arts Commission are requesting nominations for the second Distinguished Artist Award. 

Nominees must be Kingston residents for at least two years. Artists in any discipline may be nominated: music, theatre, dance, literary, visual, or media arts. Finalists and recipients will be chosen based upon the level of their artistry, commitment to the art form, commitment to the community, and recognition in the field locally, nationally or internationally. The award recipient should be willing to serve for two years and perform two public community projects such as a performance, lecture, exhibition, reading, workshop, etc. A small stipend will be provided to the awardee and additional funding may be available for a programming budget.

Submission forms can be found at www.kingston-ny.gov/ArtsCommission and must include a one-page narrative that highlights the nominee’s qualifications. Nominations, along with the form and narrative, must be submitted to the Arts Commission at [email protected] by 12 noon on Monday, December 23, 2019. Recipients will be selected by an awards panel comprised of professionals in the field. Please note, recipients are not chosen by the quantity of nominations received, but by the quality of their work and by their commitment to the community.

Award winners will be recognized by Mayor Steve Noble and arts, cultural, civic and business leaders at a reception on Thursday, April 16, 2020 at City Hall.

"It has been a pleasure to work with our current Distinguished Artists Julie & Peter. We're excited to see who will be nominated next, and encourage our community to participate in the process,” said Adrielle Farr, Director of Art and Cultural Affairs. “The Distinguished Artist Awards is a new tradition for Kingston, and we're delighted to see it continue." 

In April 2017, Peter Wetzler and Julie Hedrick were presented with the inaugural City of Kingston Distinguished Artist Award. Peter Wetzler is an award-winning composer-musician-music director scoring for film, theatre and television. Julie Hedrick is a painter and poet. She is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant and is represented by the Nohra Haime Gallery in New York. Julie and Peter, who often collaborate on various art projects, have lived and worked in a converted church in the Rondout neighborhood of Kingston since 1986. As Distinguished Artists, Julie and Peter have curated the Midtown Arts District 2018 Celebration of the Arts and the current exhibition at City Hall, Sanctuary.

Please contact Adrielle Farr, Director of Art and Cultural Affairs with any questions: 845-334-3929 or [email protected]