CT Prepares to Salute Arts Heroes

If someone who has contributed significantly to the arts in Connecticut is your hero, there is an opportunity to extend that status to the entire state.  The Connecticut Arts Hero Awards honor and celebrate Connecticut residents who are doing extraordinary things in the arts, for the arts, and through the arts in Connecticut, some publicly and some behind the scenes.

Nominations are now open for 2020, through February 3, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. The Connecticut Office of the Arts annual Arts Hero Awards will be presented at an open-to-all, free evening event on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at Infinity Hall in Hartford. 

The Connecticut Arts Hero Awards, which began just a few years ago, have “introduced us to remarkable individuals engaged in or supporting the arts,” officials said. The evening event honoring the 2020 heroes is designed to “honor and celebrate these extraordinary individuals and to reaffirm the significant role the arts play in Connecticut.”

The 2020 Connecticut Arts Hero Awards will be dedicated to the life and legacy of Elizabeth L. Mahaffey who passed away in October 2019. Ms. Mahaffey, affectionately known to many as Betsy, was an extraordinary mentor to young professionals pursuing a career in arts administration.

The Elizabeth L. Mahaffey Arts Administration Fellowship was established upon her retirement after more than 20 years of dedicated service at the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.  The Fellowship is awarded annually and provides funding to young arts administrators to help them advance their careers.

In each of the past two years, nine individuals were selected to be honored as Connecticut Arts Heroes.  In 2019, the recipients were Andrea Aron of Madison, Rebecca Atkins of Norwich, Chris Belden of Ridgefield, Bill Dougal of Lebanon, Jason Farquharson of Hartford, Judith McElhone of Torrington, Luciana McClure of Hamden, Rene Soto of Norwalk and Rene Soto of Norwalk.

The Colorado-based research company Corona recently highlighted “interesting research showing that greater arts participation is associated with other pro-social behaviors, such as voting, volunteering, and making donations.”  It noted that a group in the UK has been collecting experimental data that has shown that “arts participation increases empathy, increases intentions to be kind, increases connections within a community, reduces bias, and increases people’s belief that they can effect change.”

The regional arts organizations participating include: Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut, Arts & Culture Collaborative (Waterbury Region), Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Shoreline Arts Alliance, Windham Arts, and Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition.