Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities recipients include three Juneau residents

The Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Alaska Humanities Forum have announced the eight recipients of the 2016 Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities. The list includes three Juneau residents: Nancy DeCherney, executive director of the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, honored with a Governor’s Award for the Arts for arts advocacy; Vicki Soboleff, founder and leader of the dance group Ldakát Naax Satí Yátx’i (All Nations Children), honored with the Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Alaska Native Arts and Languages; and Steve Henrikson, curator of collections at the Alaska State Museum, honored with a Governor’s Award for the Humanities. The awards ceremony will take place Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center.

The Governor’s Awards, bestowed once a year, honor a select few Alaska citizens and organizations that “exemplify great art and devotion to the humanities” and “enrich the culture of the state,” according to a release. The awards are co-presented by the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Alaska Humanities Forum in coordination with the Office of the Governor.

Here is full list of 2016 awardees:

Governor’s Awards for the Arts

• Lifetime Achievement Award: June Rogers, Fairbanks

• Individual Artist Award: Pat Garley, Palmer

• Arts Advocacy Award: Nancy DeCherney, Juneau

• Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Alaska Native Arts and Languages: Vicki Soboleff, Juneau

Governor’s Awards for the Humanities

• Cyrano’s Theatre Company, Anchorage

• Steve Henrikson, Alaska State Museum Curator of Collections, Juneau

• Lucy “Ahvaiyak” Richards, Iñupiaq Language Instructor, Barrow

Alaska Studies Educator of the Year:

• Marc Swanson, Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area Curriculum Developer, Seward