Nominations now open for the 2024 Circle of Excellence in the Arts Awards
Recognizing people and organizations in the Shenandoah Valley that enhance and strengthen the cultural community
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Nominations are now open for the Circle of Excellence in the Arts Awards, co-sponsored by the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, the Arts Council of the Valley, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University.
Founded in 2013, these awards recognize individuals and organizations in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley that enhance and strengthen the cultural community by promoting and advocating for artistic excellence. One award is given annually in recognition of an Augusta or Rockingham County, Harrisonburg, Staunton, or Waynesboro visual or performing artist, arts administrator, or arts educator whose creative and superior accomplishments in the arts have improved the cultural vitality of the Valley. Award nominations are based on sustained contributions in the visual and performing arts.
Award recipients are nominated by members of the community and selected from those nominations by a committee made up of the executive director of the Forbes Center, the dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at JMU, and the executive director of the Arts Council of the Valley.
Nominations are due by Friday, April 26, at 6 p.m. and winners will be contacted no later than May 10. For full details on eligibility and nominations, please visit: https://jmuforbescenter.com/about/circle-of-excellence-award.shtml.
Past Winners:
2023 - Heifetz International Music Institute
2022 - Earlynn J. Miller, Harrisonburg, VA
2021 - Harrisonburg International Festival, Harrisonburg, VA
2020 - The Shenandoah Valley Choral Society, Harrisonburg, VA
2019 - Staunton-Augusta Art Center, Staunton, VA, and Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Waynesboro, VA
2018 - Pamela McCray, Shenandoah Civic Dance Company and Staunton Academy of Ballet, Staunton, VA
2017 - Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin, Furious Flower Poetry Center, JMU, Harrisonburg, VA
2016 - American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
2015 - Ken Nafziger, The Bach Festival, Harrisonburg, VA
2014 - OASIS Fine Art & Craft, Harrisonburg, VA
2013 - Stan Swartz - Harrisonburg High School, Harrisonburg, VA
