As part of its year-long celebration of 60 years supporting the arts, the N.H. State Council on the Arts will be honoring the Granite State’s creative community this fall through the 2025 Governor’s Arts Awards. Nominations for the awards are now being accepted through May 2.
“We’re surrounded by the arts every single day in ways we might not always notice right away, like students gaining self-confidence through theater, or music played at a community event or creative traditions that live on by being passed from one generation to the next,” said Adele Sicilia, director of the State Arts Council. “What’s so fantastic about the Governor’s Arts Awards is that they do more than acknowledge the quality of arts and arts programming in New Hampshire, they also shine a light on all the good the arts do for all of us.”
Poet Donald Hall, who served as New Hampshire Poet Laureate from 1984-89 and was appointed the 14th U.S. Poet Laureate in 2006, gave the keynote address at the first ceremony, held in 1980 when the honor was called the Governor’s Awards in the Arts.
In the 45 years since, New Hampshire’s Governor’s Arts Awards have honored more than 70 impactful artists, arts organizations and arts programs, among them Marek Bennett, Ken Burns, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Art Program, the Town of Mason and Fritz Wetherbee.
The 2025 Governor’s Arts Award categories are:
Arts Education – for outstanding contribution to the arts in the past three years
Arts in Health – for providing increased access to the arts for people in health care settings or activities that align with public health priorities
Creative Communities – for significant fostering of community arts in the past three years
Distinguished Arts Leadership – for performing a sustained role in nonprofit arts leadership
Folk Heritage – for a lifetime of achievement as a traditional folk artist
Individual Arts Champion – for significant contribution to the support of the arts in New Hampshire
Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure – for a lifetime of achievement in the artist’s art form and to the New Hampshire arts community.
Full descriptions of each award category are available on the State Arts Council’s website, nharts.dncr.nh.gov.
Individuals nominated must be residents of New Hampshire or have made significant contributions to the arts while New Hampshire residents. Nominated organizations, businesses and municipalities must be physically located in New Hampshire.
A review panel appointed by the State Arts Council reviews all nominations, which must include a 1,000-word statement of the nominee’s accomplishments and two to five current letters of support. Other support materials may also be submitted as part of the nomination package.
The 2025 nomination form can be accessed from the State Arts Council’s website, nharts.dncr.nh.gov. Only online nominations are accepted and must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on April 14.
The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, a division of the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, enhances the quality of life in New Hampshire by stimulating economic growth through the arts, investing in the creativity of students, making the arts accessible to underserved populations and preserving heritage arts. Learn more about the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts at nharts.dncr.nh.gov.
