2019 Award Winners

Advocate ACE Award – Jason Finkelman, for consistently advocating for, creating, and nurturing remarkable partnerships and collaborations between multiple institutions, organizations, programs, and local, national, and international artists, as well as tirelessly supporting, presenting, and promoting our cultural community to audiences across all boundaries with passion, conviction, and creativity.  

Artist ACE Award – EKAH, for creating exceptional work that captures emotion, imagination, and whimsy at a magical level and captivates an audience of all ages and backgrounds, for her sincere support and genuine enthusiasm for other artists in this area, and for contributing immense value to this arts community through multiple collaborations with local schools and organizations.

Volunteer ACE Award – Susan Curtis, for designing and sewing countless costumes for several local theater productions, for her creativity, commitment, and dedication to theater production at an unprecedented scale, and for her overall passion and tireless support of theater in this community.

Business ACE Award – Dixon Graphics, for spreading positivity with character and integrity and maintaining a focus on local artists, small businesses, and non-profit organizations, for going out of their way to support, advocate for, advise, encourage, and promote local artists as they conduct their art businesses, and for regularly dedicating one entire wall of their storefront to art display.

Teacher ACE Award – John Currey, for embodying the best qualities of humanity in his teaching and bringing out the best in young musicians, for his passion and commitment to music education and creating a band room full of hope, creativity, and innovation, and for lobbying and advocating at the state and national level for equal access to music education initiatives.

Student ACE Award – Keenan Dailey, for creating multifaceted, impressive, and thought-provoking work that speaks to a variety of viewers on themes of afro-futurism, social justice, and black activism, and for his continuing efforts, influence, and willingness to participate and contribute to our community as a whole.

Lifetime ACE Award – Bea Nettles, for her technically innovative, transformative, and experimental work that has extensively contributed to the history of photography, for her international reputation and huge impact on generations of students at the University of Illinois, and for making an immeasurable contribution to the artistic community of Champaign County while remaining a national treasure.

The winners were chosen from over 85 public nominations by an independent panel of community-based judges.

Calzado Nike