In May 2016, I was honored to be among 21 performing artists to receive a 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award.
This award (which came as a total surprise to me) is awarded through an anonymous nomination and panel process. Links to information about all of the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award recipients can be accessed here. We all met during a two day orientation session in New York in June, hosted by the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award staff in the offices Creative Capital.
The Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards program was created “to empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering flexible, multi-year funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique to the performing arts and to each grantee. The Doris Duke Artist Awards make a commitment to “individual artists in contemporary dance, jazz, theatre, and related interdisciplinary work who had proven their artistic vitality and commitment to their field. The Doris Duke Artist Award is not a lifetime achievement award, nor a “genius” grant. The Award represents a deeper investment in the potential of dedicated artists, empowering them through the freedom of unrestricted support while celebrating past achievement.”
The Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards program is part of the larger Doris Duke Performing Artists Initiative—a commitment on the part of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to recognize the potential of individual artists and insure their future viability, in the core fields of the performing arts supported by Doris Duke during her lifetime.