12th Annual Viola Awards

Saturday, March 7, 2020, The Flagstaff Arts Council announced the winners of the 2020 Viola Awards to full ballroom of 600+ patrons at the High Country Conference Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Celebrating Excellence in Arts, Science & Culture

Nine awards were presented at the gala. In addition were two Legacy Award recipients, Shonto Begay and Paul Keim, both recognized for their exceptional service, outstanding dedication and life-long achievement in the arts or sciences.

To celebrate the 12th annual Viola Awards, the Arts Council teamed with local artists and musicians to create an especially dynamic evening of celebration. The event opened with musical selections by local DJ Emmet White and a performance by Flagstaff High School Marching Band as directed by Shayne Smith (who went on to receive the Excellence in Education award later in the evening). Navajo textile weaver Amy N. Begay created stunning hand-woven awards for each award recipient.

We are excited to reveal the winners from this year’s award ceremony.

See Winners

Legacy Award Recipients

This year we have two Viola Legacy Award recipients. The Legacy Award recognizes lifetime achievement and impact in the arts in Flagstaff.

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Shonto Begay

Shonto Begay has had a long and impressive career as a working artist in Flagstaff. He was born in a hogan and raised on Dineh’ land the Navajo Nation. Shonto began professionally writing, illustrating and painting in 1983. His work captures the striking beauties of a traditional Navajo upbringing and the harsh realities of modern reservation life.

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Paul Keim

Paul Keim is a critical participant in the development of vaccines and has made Flagstaff an international leader in genomic research. He actively works to bridge the gap between Northern Arizona University and the community. And, his work exemplifies science exploration and research that is not as well known to the broader public in Flagstaff.

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12th Annual Viola Awards Winners

Community Impact Organization

Lunar Legacy

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Community Impact Organization” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627599144{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]The “Lunar Legacy” celebration was a community collaboration led by Discover Flagstaff (The City of Flagstaff’s Convention and Visitors Bureau) and Kevin Schindler, Lowell Observatory’s Historian, exemplifying the same spirit of collaboration that first put American astronauts on the moon. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, the 18 month-long event recognized Flagstaff’s role in the astronaut’s training, honored the legacy of the people and organizations involved, and shared unique insights into the town’s impressive history. With events for all interests and ages, “Lunar Legacy” left a significant impact on the Flagstaff community.

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Community Impact Individual

Andres “Dapper Dre” Adauto

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Community Impact Individual” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627609238{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Andres “Dapper Dre” Adauto has immersed himself in all things arts and culture in Flagstaff. In everything he does, Dapper Dre does it with a focus on cultivating Flagstaff’s unique creative community.

In 2016, Dre began co-managing the Urban Flea Market with Art & Heather Babbott, a unique market where local artists, craftspeople, and collectors of unique items can showcase and sell their work and findings.

Dre serves on the board of the Flagstaff Foundry and in 2019 was appointed board president for the Museum of Contemporary Art Flagstaff (MOCAF). Dre has also served as a commissioner on the Beautification and Public Arts Commission for the City of Flagstaff.

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Emerging Artist

Audrey Young

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Audrey Young is an up and coming actress who moved to Flagstaff to attend school at Northern Arizona University. She was born and raised in Tucson, where she was a part of productions with Arizona Repertory Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company.

While attending NAU she performed in shows including To Kill a Mockingbird (Mayella Ewell), The Comedy of Errors (the Courtesan), and Touch (Zoe/Kathleen). Other Flagstaff credits include commercial and film work with Flagstaff Film Productions and Vongspoth, as well as theatre work with Theatrikos Theatre Company.

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Excellence in Education

Shayne Smith

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in Education” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627634953{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Shayne Smith is currently the Director of Theater Arts and Bands at Flagstaff HighSchool. Shayne graduated with his Bachelor’s of Music from Ashland University in 2016 where he studied K-12 Music Education. He moved to Flagstaff in 2016 to begin teaching at Flagstaff High School in the Fall. As a Performing Arts Educator, Shayne strives to provide a safe space for his students to express their trust thought, feelings, and selves through several art mediums in an accepting, encouraging, and loving learning environment. “I want every student to feel physical, emotional, and mental relief when they walk into the Performing Arts spaces at FHS. These young people have so much happening in their lives that truly just sucks. I hope to be a source of light and love through that darkness.” – Shayne Smith

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Excellence in Music

Donivan Berube – Endlessly Won’t Last for Long

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in Music” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627648421{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Recorded from his home here in Arizona, Donivan Berube’s album, Endlessly Won’t Last for Long, takes its listeners through a journey of jazz and pop rock experimentation. The album covers themes of love and loss with the message that pain does not last forever.

“It’s both a positive and a negative,” Berube says. “If you’re in the darkness and it feels like it’s going to last forever, you might like to hope that it won’t last for long, but if you’re in the light—the way that I thought I have might have been—then it all falls apart and you have to be thankful for the time that you had.” –Donivan Berube, AZ Daily Sun

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Excellence in Performing Arts

FlagShakes: Indecent

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in Performing Arts” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627668691{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]In the Spring of 2019, Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, “FlagShakes” performed Indecent, a new play by Paula Vogel. Vogel’s play tells the story of another play, God of Vengeance, written by the Yiddish playwright Sholom Asch in the early 1900’s. And when Broadway producers rewrote Asch’s Yiddish play to appeal to Broadway’s crowds in the 1930s, the authorities shut it down and arrested the actors, ostensibly for indecency.

FlagShakes’s production of this play was extraordinary. To increase the play’s authenticity, they performed in Flagstaff’s historic Riordan Mansion, spoke and sang lines in Yiddish, and brought the emotion of these struggling Yiddish writers and actors to life. There was no one in the audience who wasn’t strongly moved by the performance.

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Excellence in Placemaking

Lowell Observatory: Giovale Open Deck Observatory

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in Placemaking” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627686590{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]On October 5, 2019, the Lowell Observatory opened to the public the Giovale OpenDeck Observatory.

This public observing plaza features six advanced telescopes that collectively give the public a viewing experience that goes far beyond seeing faint smudges of light. From rich star fields and planets full of color, to nebulae and galaxies that reveal obvious structure, the famously dark skies of Flagstaff are abundant in celestial treasures for you to discover.

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Excellence in STEAM

Chris Luginbuhl

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in STEM” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627695973{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Chris Luginbuhl is a local, national and international treasure. No single person has contributed more to Flagstaff’s well-earned reputation as THE WORLD’S FIRST International Dark Sky City. He is one of the best-informed persons in America (and beyond) about the effects of human-built illumination on the nocturnal ecosystem. He has spent the past three decades in Flagstaff working tirelessly as both a professional astronomer, and as an effective advocate for protection of the night through his work with community organizations, local governments, private business, academia, lighting-industry technologists and fellow activists. His influence on the Quality of Life Flagstaff’s residents enjoy can hardly be exaggerated.

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Excellence in Visual Arts

Museum of Northern Arizona: The Force is with Our People

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in Visual Arts” btn_bg_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_hover_color=”#212322″ modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read More” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-fade” overlay_bg_color=”rgba(240,233,222,0.9)” overlay_bg_opacity=”” content_bg_color=”#ffffff” header_bg_color=”#212322″ modal_border_style=”solid” modal_border_width=”3″ modal_border_color=”#212322″ modal_border_radius=”0″ init_extra_class=”violamodalbutton” img_size=”40″ close_icon_position=”popup-top-right” header_text_color=”#ffffff” content_text_color=”#212322″ btn_txt_color=”#212322″ header_font_size=”desktop:22px;” content_font_size=”desktop:17px;” button_text_font_size=”desktop:17px;” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1623627706984{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]The Museum of Northern Arizona states in their mission statement that they intend to inspire love towards the natural and cultural heritage of the Colorado Plateau. The Force Is With Our People promotes the Museum’s mission by engaging in an interesting side of the history and culture of the Native peoples of the Colorado Plateau. Tony Thibodeau, anthropologist and curator at the Museum of Northern Arizona, was inspired to explore the question of why Star Wars seems to resonate so heavily with some contemporary Native artists in the region. The art showcases the widespread phenomena of Native artists crossing traditional and modern Indigenous imagery with the sci-fi fantasy of Star Wars. Work in the show consists of artistic mediums ranging from painting, drawing, ceramics, beadwork, graphic art, cosplay outfits, and a full-scale, functioning R2-D2 droid painted in Hopi pottery designs. Over twenty contemporary Native artists are represented by over seventy-five works in this exhibit.

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