Brucemore was honored with the Arts Champion Award during the 2023 Governor’s Arts Award ceremony on Wednesday, March 1 at the State Historic Society of Iowa. The Governor’s Arts Awards are a long-standing Iowa Arts Council program to recognize and celebrate individuals, organizations, and communities that have made a lasting impact on the vitality of the arts in Iowa. The Arts Champion Award further recognized Brcemore for taking an active role in building a sustainable and thriving ecosystem for the arts in Iowa over the award period (July 1, 2020, to November 1, 2022). The Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, presented the awards on behalf of Gov. Kim Reynolds to CEO David Janssen and COO Tara Richards on behalf of Brucemore.
“As we celebrate the arts in Iowa, it’s a pleasure to recognize this year’s award recipients for the impact they have had on their communities and across the state,” Iowa Arts Council Administrator David Schmitz said. “Whether it has been serving organizations, leading fundraising efforts or connecting people to the arts, this year’s award recipients have been at the forefront of improving cultural vitality and quality of life in Iowa.”
Previous recipients include some of Iowa’s leading artists, community builders, arts organizations, and patrons of the arts. This year’s honorees continue in this tradition, and exemplify the best of our state, with their creativity, dedication, entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the arts.
The awards were presented during the Governor’s Arts Awards ceremony, when more than 250 state and national arts professionals, community leaders and advocates gathered at the State Historic Society of Iowa to network, learn and celebrate the arts in Iowa. The summit was presented by the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
About the Iowa Arts Council
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and its three divisions – the Iowa Arts Council, Produce Iowa – State Office of Media Production and the State Historical Society of Iowa – empower Iowa to build and sustain culturally vibrant communities by connecting Iowans to the people, places and points of pride that define our state. The department’s work enables Iowa to be recognized as a state that fosters creativity and serves as a catalyst for innovation where the stories of Iowa are preserved and communicated to connect past, present and future generations.