13th Annual Viola Awards

The 13th Annual Viola Awards was unlike any other in its history.

 

A new date, a new location outdoors and/or online, a streamlined program, reduced ticket prices, and more will made this year unprecedented and a welcome celebration as we are hopefully beginning to gather as a community again.

Celebrating Creative Excellence

The Flagstaff Arts Council is pleased to announce the Finalists and Legacy Award winners for the 13th Annual Viola Awards. The Viola Awards honor excellence in the arts, sciences, and culture in Flagstaff in 2020. 2020 was an unprecedented year, but the finalists of the year’s Viola Awards prove the creativity and resiliency in our community.

This year’s awards will honor 36 finalists across 9 categories with some finalists being recognized in multiple categories. Additionally, the 13th Annual Viola Awards will honor two Legacy Award Recipients, Dr. Edith Copely and Nat White. All finalists will be honored at the Viola Awards event on Friday, June 18, 2021 at the Pepsi Amphitheater at Fort Tuthill. For more information and tickets click here.

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

See Winners

Legacy Award Recipients

We are honored to recognize both Dr. Edith Copley & Nat White as Legacy Award Recipients.

Programs_Viola_Current_Legacy Edith
Programs_Viola_Current_Legacy Edith Inset

Dr. Edith Copley

Edith A. Copley has taught at Northern Arizona University for 31 years in the choral studies area in the School of Music. She conducted the highly acclaimed Shrine of the Ages Choir (founded in 1933) for 27 years. She also conducted the Chamber Singers and University Singers during her tenure and taught courses in graduate and undergraduate conducting, graduate choral literature, and choral methods. Choral ensembles under her direction have toured internationally to Western Europe, the People’s Republic of China, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Bulgaria, Istanbul, and the Baltics.

From 1993 to 2016, Copley served as the music director of the Master Chorale of Flagstaff, a 100-voice community choir that performs four concerts each year, including a choral/orchestral works with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra (FSO) each spring. Copley has conducted many concerts with the FSO, including Requiems by Fauré, Brahms, Duruflé and Britten, masses by Bach, Haydn and Mozart, and other major works by Verdi and Orff. Copley has received numerous honors, including NAU School of Performing Arts Centennial Teacher of the Year Award, Arizona Music Educator of the Year, Arizona ACDA Outstanding Choral Director Award, the Viola Award in Music, and the Weston H. Noble Award from her alma mater Luther College. Copley has served in many leadership roles for the American Choral Directors Association, and is currently serving as the national president-elect. She has conducted all-state choirs in over 30 states, national honor choirs in Carnegie Hall each spring since 2012, and international choral festivals in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Luxembourg, Tasmania, England, Australia, China, Turkey and Oman.

Programs_Viola_Current_Legacy Nat
Programs_Viola_Current_Legacy Nat Inset

Nat White

Nat White has been an active member in the Flagstaff community for more than fifty years. He first came to Flagstaff in 1969 as an Ohio State University graduate student for research purposes, where his skills earned him a position at the Lowell Observatory. Nat worked at Lowell for 38 years as an astronomer, retiring in 2007. His research emphasis was the measurement of stellar properties using lunar occultations and the development of astronomical instrumentation, high-angular-resolution astronomy. Nat retired in 2007 in the position of Lowell Observatory’s program manager for the development of the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer on Anderson Mesa. From the start of his time in Flagstaff, Nat has been engaged in the community, from attending council meetings to encouraging managed growth and the value of open space within Flagstaff. He was a founding member and president of Friends of Flagstaff’s Future, an organization dedicated to engaging local citizens in strategic decision making about the Flagstaff community.

Nat also served on Flagstaff’s City Council for four years, two as vice mayor. He was very involved in protecting Flagstaff’s open spaces. He was a leader in the 1986 successful referendum protecting Buffalo Park and was part of the original planning and implementation of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System, FUTS. He provided pictures and data for the State Land Department application that eventually led to the City’s purchase of the Observatory Mesa Preserve.

In a Flagstaff Business News article, Nat discusses how protecting these types of spaces has contributed to the “happiness of residents, provides an attraction, and an economic benefit” for Flagstaff residents and businesses. In the decades Nat has spent in Flagstaff, he has seen it flourish from a small town to a thriving city, and intends to continue to protect the natural environment that he and so many other residents appreciate about Flagstaff. Nat’s involvement within the community has been varied. In January 2021, he was elected chair of the Coconino Community College’s Governing Board. He was the founding president of the Flagstaff Public Library Foundation in 1991, a board member and chair of the Flagstaff Community Band, vice chair of the Flagstaff Leadership Program, a founding member of the Flagstaff Road and Track Club, a board member of the newly formed Flagstaff Trails Initiative and past member of multiple city commissions. He also plays trombone in several musical groups. Nat was honored with the Friends of Flagstaff’s Future first ever “Livable Community” award, recognizing his commitment to the Flagstaff community through the years. He was also honored as a 2013 Arizona Daily Sun Citizen of the Year. The American Planning Association, Arizona Chapter, awarded Nat the ‘Distinguished Citizen Planner Award’ for his involvement in city planning.

13th Annual Viola Awards Winners

Stay tuned! Winners will be announced live at this year’s event on Friday, June 18th.

Flagshakes

Community Impact Organization

 

Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival

[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_1623716833710{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]The mission of the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, affectionately known as FlagShakes, is to faithfully portray classics of the Renaissance, as well as produce other actor-driven plays. Each Renaissance performance incorporates Elizabethan staging practices, making these plays accessible and providing a unique learning opportunity. Performances and educational outreach enlighten audiences and revitalize empathy. Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to offering exciting artistic opportunity and experience for residents of northern Arizona and visitors from around the world.

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Nick Geib

Community Impact Individual

 

Nick Geib

[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_1623716803941{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Nicholas Geib is a filmmaker and video producer in Flagstaff. He has been enlisted by many organizations of the community to help with video production, and serves as one of the leading video artists in our small mountain town through his production company, Firewatch Media.

Geib’s works are high quality, emotional, and profound. He truly has a unique talent in video creation, and he has been incredibly busy creating as our world shifts to a virtual format. When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Geib was commissioned to help create a video inspiring unity and perseverance through these trying times. This particular video made for Flagstaff Local titled ‘A Message from the Mayor – Covid-19’ provided a message of hope during an incredibly new and unprecedented era.

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Revelucien

Emerging Artist

 

Revelucien

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Emerging Artist” 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_1623716914651{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Revelucien has been dominating Flagstaff’s drag stage since the local legend began college. Though they are a queen from small town Flagstaff, Revelucien’s performances revolutionize what it means to be a drag entertainer. Revel has marked themselves as a fluid performance artist, dabbling in the art of male, female, and androgynous presentation. Revel’s looks and acts are always out-of-the-ordinary and impossible to look away from. Now, this queen is reinventing the Dragstaff stage in order to provide some much-needed love and laughter in the age of COVID-19.

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Melinda McKinney lg

Excellence in Education

 

Melinda McKinney

[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_1623716738425{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Melinda McKinney is a biology faculty member at Coconino Community College. She is the advisor for Students Advancing STEM at CCC, and has a strong history of community work with programs such as the Flagstaff Festival of Science and STEM City. McKinney is an exceptional science educator who has reached across age and experience levels to engage her students, and to further the understanding of the processes and importance of science in our world. Melinda has made an incredible contribution to educating students, teachers, and other people in our community. Her continued efforts to make science and technology more accessible to people has established her as one of CCCs most valuable educators. In addition, Melinda had her CCC science classes and club do at home research projects since the outbreak of COVID-19, and use of the internet to continue the instruction and exploration in science. As the club advisor, she motivated the Students Advancing STEM student group at CCC to work with grade school students to explore hydroponics, an exceptional example of adapting to and providing creativity during the COVID pandemic.

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Excellence in Music

 

Tow’rs – The Holly & the Ivy

[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_1623716765313{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Tow’rs is a local Flagstaff folk group who “tell stories through music.” The group has been dedicated to producing music throughout the pandemic. In place of touring and live performances, Tow’rs elected to produce virtual concerts and albums under the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic. The band’s newest christmas album, The Holly and the Ivy, has been recognized for “the most beautiful of the Tow’rs albums! Leaders of the band produced and mixed the entire album locally using Flagstaff homegrown talents!”. The band notes “… our first goal in this album was to make Christmas music for people who don’t typically like holiday music… we wanted to make a piece of art that looked forward to a new beginning amidst our present chaos… to get to that hope filled reality.”

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The Nutcracker Flag Symphony Orch

Excellence in Performing Arts

 

The Nutcracker

[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_1623716706355{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]For the past sixteen years, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra has presented the Nutcracker Ballet to the Northern Arizona community. The production has featured dancers from the Northern Arizona University Community Music and Dance Academy under the direction of Andrew Needhammer. The Nutcracker has become a cherished Flagstaff holiday season tradition with performances on Friday and Saturday evenings and a special child-friendly matinee (The Lollipop Concert) on Saturday afternoon. The performances are traditionally presented in the NAU Ardrey Auditorium to an audience filled to the brim with excited children and their families dressed in their holiday finery—about 3,000 each year. It is always thrilling to be able to bring so much delight to the citizens of Flagstaff.

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Parched Title Wall 500px

Excellence in STEAM

 

Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest

[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_1623716670139{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]“Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest ‘’ included the art exhibit was on display at the Coconino Center for the Arts from September 2020-January 2021, and the associated documentary and the panel discussions that were organized around the exhibit.

The Parched project is part of a series of exhibits that integrate science and the arts by convening teams of artists and scientists dedicated to exploring scientific issues pertinent to our region. Teams work together for 1-2 years with scientists developing educational programming and artists create artistic pieces around the theme. Prior exhibits that were part of this series include “Fires of Change” which focused on forest management and “Hope + Trauma in a Poisoned Land” which dealt with the effects of uranium mining on Native Americans.

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The Main in the Dog Park

Excellence in Storytelling

 

The Man in the Dog Park: Coming Up Close to Homelessness: Cathy A. Small, Jason Kordosky, & Ross Moore

[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Excellence in Storytelling” 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_1623716605521{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]The Man in the Dog Park offers the reader a rare window into homeless life. Spurred by a personal relationship with a homeless man who became her co-author, Cathy A. Small takes a compelling look at what it means and what it takes to be homeless. Interviews and encounters with dozens of homeless people lead you into a world that most have never seen. The book acts as an intimate observer into the places that many homeless frequent, including a community shelter, a day labor agency, a panhandling corner, a pawn shop, and a HUD housing office.

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Parched_Visual Finalist

Excellence in Visual Arts

 

Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest

[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_1623716870799{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest was the 2020 signature exhibition at Coconino Center for the Arts. This project was over two years in the making. In 2019, nine regional artists participated in an immersive learning experience about water. Artists attended a week long “boot camp” designed by the Parched steering committee that featured field trips highlighting regional and cultural issues surrounding water management, with a strong emphasis on managing water for healthy ecosystems. The curriculum also emphasized native and cultural issues relating to water.

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Viola Awards Finalists

This year we are pleased to recognize 36 finalists.

Community Impact Organization

Exodus Pop Up Art Show

Exodus Pop-up Art Show

Flagshakes

Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival

MOCAF_Bikes

MOCAF

Festival of Science

Festival of Science

Murdoch Community Center

The Murdoch Community Center

Community Impact Individual

Duane Koyawena

Duane Koyawena

Emma Gardner

Emma Gardner

John Taylor

John Taylor

Nick Geib

Nick Geib

Scotty Jensen

Scotty Jensen

Emerging Artist

©Tanya Malott

Grace Noelle

Lauren Sarantopulos

Lauren Sarantopulos

Revelucien

Revelucien

Sierra Bryan

Sierra Bryan

Tyrrell Tapaha

Tyrrell Tapaha

Excellence in Education

Dr Alice Christie

Dr. Alice Christie

Kayley Quick

Kayley Quick

Melinda McKinney

Melinda McKinney

Owen Davis

Owen Davis

Stephanie Yingst Galloway

Stephanie Yingst Galloway

Excellence in Music

AnIllustratedMess2

An Illustrated Mess

SciFi Country

Sci-Fi Country

Sean Golightly

Sean Golightly

Tow'rs

Tow’rs- The Holly & the Ivy

Excellence in Performing Arts

NAU Voice of the Whale

Voice of the Whale

The Nutcracker Flag Symphony Orch

The Nutcracker

Flagshakes_AYLI

As You Like It

Ed Kabotie Coyote Inna Quarantine

Ed Kabotie

FTown Sound

F-Town Sound

Excellence in STEAM

interactive_star_12.8

Lowell Observatory Virtual Programs

Festival of Science_2014 SITP credit Steve Smith

The Festival of Science

Tynkertopia

Tynkertopia

Parched Title Wall

Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest

Excellence in Storytelling

The Main in the Dog Park

The Man in the Dog Park: Coming Up Close to Homelessness: Cathy A. Small, Jason Kordosky, & Ross Moore

Walking Flagstaff George Breed

Walking Flagstaff Photo Journal: George Breed

Deidra Peaches 2020 Films

Deidra Peaches: 2020 films

Austin Aslan The Endanger

Austin Aslan: 2020 works

Parched Storytelling Finalist

Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest Documentary: Julie Comnick, Jane Marks, & Nick Geib

Excellence in Visual Arts

Eric Retterbush

Eric Retterbush: The Resilience Series

Parched_Visual Finalist

Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest

PIVOT

PIVOT at Brandy’s Restaurant

This year’s Viola Awards are made possible through…

the generosity of our Title Sponsor, Northern Arizona University, and our Founding Sponsor, the Babbitt Brothers Foundation, as well as other community members and sponsors.

Title Sponsor

Founding Sponsor

Violet Sponsor

Lavender Sponsors

Lilac Sponsors

Dorlee Henderson

Sponsoring the Viola Awards is a great way to show support for our creative community.

The 13th Annual Viola Awards will take place on Friday, June 18, 2021. There are several different sponsorship levels with varying benefits.

Contact

Celebrating creative success in style.

The Viola Awards have had a meteoric rise to fame in Flagstaff, due mostly to the creative community’s embrace of the event. It was clear from the first annual event on March 5, 2009, that something special was happening. Throughout the 10+ years, elegant dress… fancy flamboyant costumes… Martanne’s Breakfast Palace table on fire… the ground-shaking roar of the crowd when Craig Bowie was announced as Arts Education winner in 2010… Circus Bacchus’ naughty naked video interview as nominees in 2013… the aerial dancers from Flagstaff Aerial Arts hanging off the beam at High Country Conference Center in 2015… Dark Sky Aerial’s feature performance in 2017… the Viola Awards recognize and celebrate talent, contributions and excellence in arts, science, and culture, and do it with style.

 

What has always been prevalent is the love and support shown by those in attendance for the nominees and award winners. In addition to the artistic giants who have impacted Flagstaff over the years and taken home awards, elected officials at the local, County and State level have attended the event every year. Most importantly though, winners are exalted, nominees are celebrated, and everyone revels in the power of the arts.

 

Relive the memories and past Viola Awards events below.

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