3Arts -- a Chicago-based foundation that once operated as a residency program -- annually recognizes six artists producing distinctive work in the disciplines of music, theater, and visual arts to receive awards of $15,000 each to put to use according to their individual priorities. Artists may wish to conduct research, purchase equipment, pay for child care, rent workspace, make health insurance payments, or take the time to focus on the development of new work -- it's up to them to determine their needs. There are no third parties and there are no strings attached.
A total of 63 artists are nominated by 21 anonymous nominators each year. The nominators are Chicago artists, arts leaders, curators, and presenters who are acutely knowledgeable regarding artists working in a wide variety of communities in the greater metropolitan area. Their nominees are invited to submit applications and work samples to be considered for the awards.
Three discipline-based panels of three judges each select the award recipients from among the artist submittals. One local judge and two from out of state comprise each panel. The judges are artists, presenters, curators, and arts leaders who convene in Chicago to make their selections.
At an October 5 reception, 3Arts announced the recipients of the 2009 Artist Awards:
- Music: Lurrie Bell, blues guitarist; Leslie Dunner, conductor
- Theater: Tanya Saracho, playwright; Michael Patrick Thornton, director
- Visual Arts: Sara Black, installation artist; David Leggett, painter
"Artists are the essential core of our cultural wellbeing and vitality. They literally transform our environment while connecting us through their creative spirit," says 3Arts Executive Director Esther Grimm. The no-strings-attached awards represent the trust and respect the organization has for artists, values that were at the heart of 3Arts' former residency program. In June, 2006, after providing a residence for women in the arts for close to a century, 3Arts embarked on a new path when they decided to sell their historic building in order to explore new ways to serve the arts and Chicago. 3Arts founders included Jane Addams, Emily Coolidge Chapin, Edith Rockefeller McCormick, and other visionary women who laid a foundation for a century of support for individual artists that 3Arts carries on today.
For more information, visit www.3arts.org