Connecticut Governor's Arts Awardees
This award was established in 1978 to recognize Connecticut residents and organizations for their excellence and lifetime achievement in the arts. Learn more about the Connecticut Arts Council Awards.
2020
- Titus Kaphar, visual artist
- Tarell McCraney, playwright, screenwriter, and actor
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 were 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
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