After a one-year hiatus, the Austin Visual Arts Association resumed its annual tradition of honoring outstanding local artists in a ceremony at the AT&T Education and Conference Center on Thursday night &ndash and you could tell the honored artists love what they do.
Attendance was notably lighter than at the first and second AVAA presentations, but the crowd was no less chatty during the pre-ceremony cocktail hour or appreciative when the “Fearings” &ndash named in honor of the late, great Texas artist Kelly Fearing &ndash were hung around the winners’ necks. That said, the acceptance speeches were among the briefest I’ve ever witnessed at an awards show and likely the most modest as well. Sam Coronado set the tone for the evening straight away when he said that he shared the Lifetime Achievement Award with all the artists who had taken part in the Serie Project that he’s been running for the past 25 years. Katie Rose Pipkin went on to thank Ink Tank Collective and Colin Doyle, her fellow nominess for Artist of the Year Early Career, for “raising the bar” for visual art work in Austin. Winners repeatedly paid tribute to the city’s culture of creativity and expressed their ardor for what they do. President’s Award winner Jack White called his studio “the most beautiful space I know,” adding: “I just can’t stop making work.” And accepting the final award of the night, Artist of the Year 2-Dimensional Art, Leah Haney summed up the sentiment for many when she said: “It’s an honor to be recognized with an award for something you’re madly in love with doing.”
Here’s the full list of winners.
The 2012 Austin Visual Arts Awards Winners
Lifetime Achievement Award: Sam Coronado
President’s Award of Excellence: Jack White
Service to the Arts Award: Bob Coffee
Collectors Circle Award: John Christensen
Artist of the Year New Media: Wura Nathasha-Ogunji
Artist of the Year Early Career: Katie Rose Pipkin
Artist of the Year Photography: Barry Stone
Artist of the Year Printmaking: Miguel Aragón
Artist of the Year 3 Dimensional Art: Michael A. Garcia
Artist of the Year 2 Dimensional Art: Leah Haney
This article appears in November 16 • 2012.