17th Annual Viola Awards
The 17th Annual Viola Awards are set for Saturday, April 26, 2025 at the Orpheum Theater
Join us on April 26th to celebrate excellence in Flagstaff’s creative community.
Join us on April 26th to celebrate excellence in Flagstaff’s creative community.
Creative Flagstaff is excited to announce that the 17th Annual Viola Awards will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Flagstaff.
The Viola Awards are Flagstaff’s Oscars for the arts community. Celebrating excellence in the arts, the Viola Awards recognize artists, educators, organizations, and leaders who make positive contributions to the arts in Flagstaff. Over 400 people attend the event to celebrate and support these distinguished artists and professionals.
Nominations for the 17th Annual Viola Awards are now open! If you have seen something or know someone that you feel deserves to be recognized, please consider nominating. Criteria and categories are listed below. Submit a nomination here! Nominations open until January 5th, 2025!
Creative Flagstaff invites the community to submit a nomination for the 17th Annual Viola Awards. The award categories, descriptions, and criteria are listed below.
Honors a locally based musician, group of musicians, or organization for the presentation of live performed or recorded music in 2024 in the greater Flagstaff area.
Criteria:
Honors a collaborative effort completed in 2024 or that had significant achievement in 2024 which brought together different disciplines, media, organizations, or businesses to produce or support a project of outstanding achievement in arts, science, and/or culture in greater Flagstaff.
Criteria:
Honors an arts, science, or humanities educator or group of educators that nourished outstanding student achievement and engagement within the school environment and beyond between 2023 and 2024. Since 2021, this category has been expanded beyond arts and sciences disciplines to include all humanities.
Criteria:
Honors a locally based artist, group of artists, curator, or organization for the production of an excellent work or exhibition of visual art, produced in the greater Flagstaff area and exhibited in the Flagstaff area in 2024. This can be for a single work of art, public art, or for an exhibition of several works of art.
Criteria:
Honors a locally based performing artist, or organization for a performing arts production, performed in 2024 in the greater Flagstaff area. Recognition could be for a director of a theatrical production, an organization for presentation of a performance, or an actor, dancer, or other performer.
Criteria:
Honors a locally based writer, filmmaker, podcaster, or other storyteller or group of storytellers for the production of an excellent work produced and presented in 2024 in the greater Flagstaff area. This could be for a film, live reading of written works, recorded presentation, book, short story, essay, poem or a series of stories, essays or poems, or podcast.
Criteria:
Honors a locally based emerging or student artist in any genre (visual, performing, music, literature, film, etc.). The recipient of this award shall be relatively new to their field or a student in the field, with three to five years of professional experience.
Criteria:
Honors a locally based individual, organization, and/or collaborative effort for their contribution within 2024 to the advancement of Flagstaff as a culturally engaged, equitable, artistic, creative and curious community.
Criteria:
Honors a developed or practiced Flagstaff-based artisan who has demonstrated a commitment to their craft. An artisan is someone in a skilled trade, making goods by hand (including but not limited to ceramics, glass, jewelry, textiles, metalsmithing, etc).
Criteria:
Several of the awards are decided based on the following shared criteria:
-Technical Proficiency
-Demonstrated mastery of the technical aspects of their craft is essential. This includes vocal range, instrumental proficiency, dance technique, or any specialized skills required for their specific discipline. Nominees must show a high level of technical competence.
The highest ranking nominations for technical proficiency will demonstrate:
Was there excellence within field? Was there a demonstrated mastery of the technical aspects of their craft? Was there consistency and versatility? ie: Was it the same experience every time and consistently presented? Does this showcase the versatility of the presenter?
-Strong Concept
The highest ranking nominations for Strong Concept will demonstrate:
Does the work make an impactful conceptual or cultural statement? Was this something the community has not seen before or a new take on something previously seen? Was the concept fully developed and thoughtfully designed?
-Community Impact
The highest ranking nominations for Community Impact will demonstrate:
Was there an engaged audience, either quantified by quality or quantity? Was the work accessible to the community? Did the work spark reflection or stimulate conversation, or encourage the audience to become engaged? Are there reviews, audience feedback, or critical acclaim for the work? Has the work made an impact on the field within the community? Did the work demonstrate collaborative skills, with adaptability and resilience?
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*Starred categories are identified as categories that have subdisciplines that may be awarded separately at the discretion of the selection panels. For example, panels can choose to award for dance and theatre for performing arts, science education and humanities education, or emerging leader and organization for community impact.
Established in 1999, Creative Flagstaff is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), and serves as Flagstaff’s art, science and culture agency with a mission of fostering creative opportunity.
If you have any questions please contact Dani Commanda at dcommanda@creativeflagstaff.org or 928-271-5550 for the Events Department.
Honors a lifetime contribution to the advancement of Flagstaff as a culturally engaged, equitable, artistic, creative, and curious community. Past winners of the Legacy Award have significant achievements in the arts and sciences, both in Flagstaff and beyond.
Beginning in 2022, the award stretches beyond arts or sciences to more broadly represent Flagstaff’s cultural sector. Legacy honorees are selected by the Creative Flagstaff Board of Directors.
The 17th Annual Viola Awards will take place on Saturday, April 26th, 2025. There will be several different sponsorship levels with varying benefits.
If you are interested in sponsoring the Viola Awards please email Julie Sokol at jsokol@creativeflagstaff.org or Dani Commanda at dcommanda@creativeflagstaff.org.
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.