Photo by The Keene Sentinel’s Hannah Schroeder
Welcome to the Ruth and James Ewing Arts Awards, where we come together to recognize and celebrate extraordinary achievements in the arts.
We have come together, united, to celebrate what is good in our community. To experience stories, performances, and a gallery show of artists and arts presenters, arts educators and advocates who believe that the arts have an important impact on individuals and the social fabric of our community.
All of the eleven artists and organizations selected to receive awards this year are leaders. Tonight, let them inspire you with their generosity, their creativity, and their skill.
This is our tenth Ruth and James Ewing Arts Award celebration.
The first time I sat down to discuss this idea with folks at the Sentinel, there was some idea that we’d try this out and we’d run out of folks to give awards to after a few years. I said, “I’m not sure that’s possible!”
We have hosted this event for ten years, celebrating 141 artists and organizations. The landscape of the arts has changed even in these ten years. New organizations are popping up, artists are finding their profound voices, folks passionate about the arts are moving to or returning to the area.
We could certainly host this event for another ten years, fifty years, a hundred years—not only because the arts are flourishing here in the Monadnock region, but because the arts are an essential part of the human experience. I’m sure we could continue this event for thousands of years into the future!
Since human cultures emerged, the arts have given us a pathway to understanding. They help us deeply understand ourselves and our place in the world. When an individual expresses themselves and reflects on their inner world or the big wide world around them, we can see our own values reflected in that work—and our differences.
The arts offer a mirror to human complexities.
There is something about being witness to extraordinary art. Time can stop. The synapses in our brain are firing, writing new pathways of understanding, making new memories of something never experienced before, allowing us to slow down. There is so much to process. A moment, a shape, a color, a word, a note can contain a multitude.
And why is that important? The arts reveal humanity and the world’s nuanced and multifaceted beauty. The arts embrace ambiguity, and challenge simplistic views of the world rooted in soundbites and headlines. And the arts provide us the tools to question and deconstruct binary narratives that are dangerous to democracies.
The arts generate within us a complex view of the world, ourselves, and each other. That complexity births empathy and understanding. Unity. Unity—which doesn’t mean we are all the same, all aligned in one thought, one morality, or one lived experience—it means we are committed to taking the time to see and feel this multitude of diversity and complexity—acknowledging each others’ motivations, passions, thoughts.
Why are these eleven our winners in 2024? These artists are not just exercising their own voices, but they are uplifting the voices, visibility, and passions of others: Art for turtles; Art for a new narrative of womens’ history; Art for queer community advocacy and placemaking; Art for encouraging the next generation towards their dreams.
With the Ewing Arts Awards, we honor those who have contributed to uplifting a complex dialogue, and those whose work continues to inspire and transform us. We honor those who enrich our lives and our communities with their creativity and vision, bringing us together.
To carry the spirit of these awards forward, I encourage each of you to lift up the local arts community. Attend a performance, visit an open studio, read a book, or participate in a workshop. Learn from the deep wisdom of arts practitioners here in the Monadnock region—they are excellent. And by supporting local artists, fellow artists, you help sustain the vibrant cultural fabric that enriches our lives and fosters deeper connections within our community.
To carry this spirit forward, share your work and process with others. Art is a universal language that speaks to our shared humanity, and by sharing, you contribute to an ongoing dialogue about the human condition.
To carry this spirit forward, discuss and reflect on the art that you encounter. Whether it's a play, a piece of music, a book, or a painting, take the time to talk about its impact with friends, family, or colleagues. These conversations help us appreciate the diverse perspectives that art and arts experiences reveal. These conversations enrich our understanding of the world.
Finally, I urge you to take inspiration from the recipients of the 2024 Ewing Arts Awards. Support increasing access to arts experiences as they do. Seek out and uplift the voices of quiet and underrepresented artists as they do. Encourage creativity in everyone because access to the arts is a human right.
By championing a diversity of artistic expression, we embrace the full spectrum of human experience and ensure that the arts remain a powerful force for unity and understanding.
Delivered by Jessica Gelter, Executive Director of Arts Alive, at the 10th annual Ruth & James Ewing Arts Awards on July 18, 2024.
