2017 Award Winners

Advocate ACE Award – Shaya Robinson, for her tireless support of underserved communities, her fostering and maintaining of a safe space where young and emerging artists can share, develop, and learn at SPEAK Café, and her ability to weave social justice ideals with arts advocacy by shining a light on and lifting up the voices of others.

Artist ACE Award – Allen Creamean, for creating art that brazenly explores human emotion and mental health, for utilizing his comprehensive understanding of psychology along with his insightful and intense creative ability to encourage others, and for teaching young minds how to use art to explore, process, and cope with life.

Volunteer ACE Award – Lawrence McGown, for generously offering his professional photography services on countless occasions, and for enthusiastically maintaining and facilitating the Monday Evening Life Drawing Group (MELD) for artists of all skill levels, providing one of the only area venues for drawing from a live model. 

Business ACE Award – CU Adventures in Time & Space, for their artistic spirit that showcases what is truly unique about this area, for promoting creativity, vibrancy, and injecting art into many aspects of their business, and for generously giving back and consistently supporting this creative community.

Teacher ACE Award – Sue Aldridge, for impacting countless students by creating an outlet for them to express themselves and make wonderful memories that they cherish throughout their lives, for facilitating relationships as a teacher, mentor, confidant and inspiring director, and for serving others and bringing the power of theatre to the next generation through her work with students and the community.

Student ACE Award – Kamila Glowacki, for using what inspires her to inspire others, for impacting countless people through her work as an educator, visual artist, and a musician, and for making the arts accessible, inspirational, and educational to countless children and families in this community through programs such as KAM-WAM, Art Rocks!, Girls Rock C-U, and Girl Radio.

Lifetime ACE Award – Don Lake, for his passion, knowledge, and command of the fine art of watercolor, for devoting his life to nurturing and encourageing emerging artists and helping them become the very best they can be, for his unwavering dedication to his colleagues, his family, his friends, and his former students, and for creating a powerful legacy and learning experience for Parkland College students and members of this community.

The winners were chosen from over 115 public nominations by an independent panel of community-based judges.

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