Past Recipients
2020
No awards given
2019
No awards given
2018 Governor's Patrons of the Arts
Alva Greenberg
Yale University
United Technologies
Grace Farms Foundation
2017
No awards given
2016 Governor's Patrons of the Arts
Connecticut Community Foundations
John and Pamela Baker
Floyd W. Green III
Harvard Business School Club of Connecticut Community Partners
2015
No awards given
2014 Governor's Patrons of the Arts
Anne Tyler Calabresi
Jean M. Handley
Roslyn Milstein Meyer
The Travelers Companies, Inc.
The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation
2014
Christopher Plummer - actor
Tim Prentice - kinetic sculptor
Luanne Rice - author
2013
Elizabeth Alexander - poet
Jimmy Greene - musician
Olu Oguibe - visual artist
2012
No awards given
Renamed Governor’s Arts Awards
2011
Curtain Call
Keir Dullea - actor
Lyman Orchards
Alfred Marder, Peace activist and advocate for Connecticut Freedom Trail
2010
Barkley L. Hendricks - visual artist
Connecticut Humanities Council
ESPN
Diane Smith - journalist, talk show host and author
2009
Jacques Pepin - chef and author
Philip Roth - author
Campbell Scott - actor and voice artist
Smith Edwards Architects
2008
Professor Joan D. Hedrick - historian, educator and biographer
Vita West Muir - founder of the Litchfield Jazz Festival
Gene Wilder - actor
Michael Wilson - stage director
2007
William Morris Meredith, Poet
Robert A.M. Stern, Architect
Barry Levinson, Screenwriter and film director
Dr. Robert D. Ballard, Underwater archaeologist
2006
No awards given
Renamed Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Culture & Tourism
2005
Doug Hughes, Theater and film director
Sam Waterston, Actor
Jeanine Basinger, Film historian and educator
Westport Country Playhouse
Tina Weymouth & Chris Frantz, Musicians
2004
Antiquarian & Landmarks Society
John Canning, Decorative artist and art restorer
Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.
Florence Griswold Museum
A.R. Gurney, Playwright and novelist
Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection
2003
Concora/CT Choral Artists
Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theatre
Donald Margulies, Playwright
Ed Johnetta Miller, Fiber artist
James Naughton, Actor
2002
Chamber Music Plus
Casimer Michalczyk, Sculptor
Yale School of Drama Yale Repertory Theatre
2001
No awards given
2000
Elizabeth Gordon Chandler, Sculptor and founder of the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
J. D. McClatchy, Poet and literary critic
Philip Johnson, Architect
Willie Ruff, Hornist and bassist
Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts
1999
Anthony Braxton, Composer and musician
Judy Dworin, Teacher of dance and arts educator
Elizabeth MacDonald, Potter and sculptor
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center
1998
Antonio Frasconi, Woodcut artist
Helena Hernmarck, Trompe-l’oeil weaver
Wally Lamb, Novelist
Moses Pendleton, Choreographer, co-founder of Pilobolus and founder of MOMIX
1997
Paul Cadmus, Visual artist
Alison Chase, Choreographer and co-founder of Pilobolus
John Hollander, Poet and literary critic
Aldo Parisot, Cellist
1996
No awards given
1995
No awards given
1994
No awards given
1993
Renamed Governor’s Arts Awards
Annie Dillard, Author
The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company
Ted Hershey, Danseur
Vincent Scully, Architectural historian
1992
Frank Rich, Jr., Founder of Stamford Center for the Arts
Ann Petry, Author
Peter Good, Graphic designer and illustrator
Robert Anderson, Portrait painter
Audubon Arts District
1991
Paul Brown, Jazz bassist
Peter DeVries, Editor and novelist
Richard Hallinan, Arts administrator (Downtown Cabaret Theater, Bridgeport)
Jane Henson, Puppeteer
Martha Myers, Teacher of dance
1990
Gary M. Young, Contributor to the state arts council movement in US. Executive director of the CT Commission on the Arts from 1981-1990
Young Audiences of Connecticut
Xerox Corporation
Marilyn Nelson Waniek, Poet
Gerald Tirozzi, Arts in education leader/advocate
Skitch Henderson, Pianist, conductor and composer
1989
Helen Frankenthaler, Abstract expressionist painter
Mark Lamos, Theater and opera director
John Russell, Art critic
Gary Karr, Bassist
1988
Paul Winter, Saxophonist
Aetna Life & Casualty
The Hartford Courant
Frank Ballard, Puppeteer
1987
Cleve Gray, Abstract expressionist painter
Lucille Lortel, Producer and actress
Ernestine Stodell, Dancer
Dave Brubeck, Jazz pianist and composer
1986
Betty Jones, Singer
Michael Price, Arts administrator (Goodspeed Musicals, East Haddam)
James Laughlin, Poet
Barbara Tuchman, Historian and author
1985
No awards given
1984
William Styron, Novelist and essayist
Wadsworth Atheneum
City Spirit Artists
Champion International
1983
Willian Benton Art Museum
Arvin Brown, Theater and television director
Greater Hartford Arts Council
Jackie McLean, Jazz saxophonist and co-founder of Artists Collective, Hartford
James Merrill, Poet
1982
Victor Borge, Musician and humorist
Brookfield Craft Center
Gerry Mulligan, Saxophonist
Lloyd Richards, Actor, director and dean of Yale School of Drama
Margo Rose, Puppeteer
United Technologies Corp
1981
Morris Carnovsky, Actor
Community Renewal Team
Craftery Gallery
Curbstone Press
Anthony S. Keller, Advocate for creation of state arts councils. Executive director of CT Commission on the Arts from 1966-1981
Pilobolus
Maurice Sendak, Author and illustrator of children’s books
Cesar Pelli, Architect
1980
Artists Collective
Peter Blume, Painter and sculptor
Lucia Chase, Dancer and actress
Eva LeGallienne, Actress
Newton Schenck, Founder of New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre
Robert Penn Warren, Poet and novelist
1979
Bowen-Peters School of Dance
Malcolm Cowley, Literary artist
Ralph Kirkpatrick, Musician
Meriden Gravure Company
Ruben Nakian, Sculptor
National Theatre of the Deaf
New Britain Museum of Art
Menen Osario
1978
Marian Anderson, Singer
Robert Motherwell, Painter and printmaker
Lippincott, Inc.,
Public sculpture fabricators Peace Train Foundation
Paul LeMay, Fiddler and founder of the New England Fiddle Contest
Patricia Edwards/Valley Arts Center
Juan Fuentes, Photographer
Mildred Dunnock, Actress
Arthur Miller, Playwright
Moshe Paranov, Pianist and founder of Hartt School of Music, Hartford
Mary Hunter Wolf, Theater director and producer