These awards are ANNUAL awards that serve to honor people and organizations within Polk County that are advancing the arts & cultural community through dedicated service. Nominators should be aware of the following:
- Nominees should be working in Polk County
- Nominees should be reflective of recent/current work that best reflects broad efforts to advance arts and cultural opportunities in Polk County
- Nominators do NOT have to make a nomination in all of the categories listed below
- Award winners will have $500 given to their respective organizations in their name
Public nominations for this designation is open from now until June 15.
Past Arts & Cultural Award Winners:
Organization of the Year: Bok Tower Gardens (2025), City of Lakeland Parks, Rec and Cultural Arts (2024), Theatre Winter Haven (2023)
Philanthropist of the Year: Six/ten LLC (2025), Bond Clinic (2024), Citizens Bank & Trust (2023)
Volunteer of the Year: Tom Johnson, Theatre Winter Haven (2025), Sherry Ross, Lakeland Arts Association (2024), Marcia Morse Mullins; Bartow Art Guild (2024) and Troy Dalsimer, Lake Wales Arts Council (2023)
Educator of the Year: Simoni Bonadies (2025), Brannan Lawson (2024), Shelby Montgomery (2023)
Rising Star Award: Tiffany Van Wieren, Watson Clinic Foundation Arts in Medicine (2025); Chelsea Young, Mulberry Cultural Center (2024) and Ellen Chastain, Polk Museum of Art/ArtCrawl (2023).
Art for Good Award: Polk Plays, Florida Children’s Museum (2025); Out of the Box, Lakeland Community Theatre (2024) and Kid’s Tag Art, Polk County Tax Collector (2023).
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