The nominees for the 2024 Viola Awards have been announced.
The annual Flagstaff event celebrates excellence in the arts and sciences. Panel members selected 42 finalists across 10 categories from the nearly 150 nominees.
Navajo activist and artist Klee Benally will be recognized with the Babbitt Brothers Foundation Viola Legacy Award. He died in December at the age of 48.
The awards ceremony will be held on March 23 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Flagstaff.
Here's the full list of nominees:
Excellence in the Visual Arts
- Bryan David Griffith: Envision
- Paula Rice: Transformation & Transcendence
- Nate Begay: Our Future, Told by the Past
- Jihan Gearon: Tricky
Excellence in the Performing Arts
- Ballet Folklórico de Colores: Paseo Navideno: A Christmas Journey Through Mexico
- The Cast of Dance Nation
- Stargazer Collaborative Theatre: Women of Broadway Cabaret
- Simon Says Theatre: Every Brilliant Thing
Excellence in Music
- iiwaa
- Tiny Bird
- Tow’rs
- Ryan Biter
- Pilcrowe
Excellence in Storytelling
- Mary Tolan: Mars Hill Murder
- Melissa Sevigny: Brave the Wild River
- Lawrence Lenhart: Backvalley Ferrets
- Lydia Gates: Flagstaff Poetry Slam Host
Emerging Artist
- Brian Price
- Nathan Henderson
- Haley Jacobey
- Jonathan Cady
Excellence in Education
- Joe Maniglia
- Betsy Hamill
- Owen Davis
Excellence in Collaboration
- Diane Immethun & FSO: Deeper Soul of Picture Canyon
- Master Chorale & NAU Community Dance Academy: Venus & Adonis
- Interference Series
- Maya Scull & Jason Libby: Nightmare Over the Rainbow
- Flagstaff Nuestras Raices & Museum of Northern Arizona: 20th Annual Celebraciones de la Gente
Community Impact (Individual)
- Emmett White
- Kimberly Robinson
- Caitlin Burd
- Wendy White
Community Impact (Organization)
- The Give Back
- Freaky Foot Tours
- Flagstaff Foundry
- Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra
- Northern Arizona Book Festival
Philanthropy Award
- Arizona Public Service
- Dark Sky Brewing
- Dr. Alice Christie
- W.L. Gore