Sara Burke and Kim Eberlein launched the Saint Louis Visionary Awards in 2015 with a clear goal: to celebrate women who work in and support the arts and are making an impact that deserves to be recognized, especially young women of color.
The awards shine the spotlight on everyone from major arts contributors to women who utilize the arts to spread awareness about community concerns. “We make it clear in our nomination process that you can nominate anyone who calls themselves an artist or you think of as an artist,” says Eberlein. “We use a very broad definition of art.”
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People from the community, including the board—consisting of Burke, Eberlein, and 14 other women whose contributions to the arts include philanthropy, advocacy/activism, and mentoring—make nominations through the organization’s website or social media accounts. A confidential selection committee then chooses the final honorees.
The honorees for this year’s Visionary Awards are:
- Pam Trapp (Major Contributor to the Arts)
- Andrea Hughes (Community Impact Artist)
- Emily Rauh Pulitzer (Lifetime Achievement)
- Hassie Davis (Outstanding Teaching Artist)
- Dianne Isbell (Outstanding Working Artist)
- Mee Jey (Emerging Artist)
“A lot of the time, [the honorees] don’t know each other, which is another fun part of the process,” says Eberlein. “It’s fun for them to get to see who these other people are and what they are doing.”
This year’s awards presentation, co-hosted by Cheree Berry and Dr. Eva Frazer, will be April 25 at The Sun Theatre. Each honoree will be recognized and have the chance to speak, though they don’t have to address the crowd. (One previous honoree chose to instead cede her time to jazz singer Denise Thymes for a short performance.)
Tickets to the event are available for $50 and include admission to the awards show, as well as a post-awards show reception with the award winners that also includes appetizers and cocktails, including the signature Viz Fizz. For those who can’t afford to attend, the Visionary Awards offer a limited number of “angel fund” tickets. Eligibility is based on the number of tickets available and determined by a subcommittee. To request an angel fund ticket, contact Kris Marano by emailing [email protected]. For tickets and more information, visit vizawards.org.
