Friday, May 9, 2025
honoring Karen Savage-Blue and Giizh Agaton Howes

Arrowhead Arts Awards

Sarah Agaton Howes, Fond du Lac Reservation. Agaton Howes is an artist whose designs are rooted in traditional Ojibwe floral beadwork designs. She is the founder of Heart Berry, an online store featuring her original artwork.

The Arrowhead Arts Awards were created to celebrate the best artists and arts advocates in the region. Many of us know an artist or arts advocate that deserves a little more recognition for all they do. Nominations are accepted all year with the selections made during the winter and awards presented late spring.

George Morrison Artist Award
This award recognizes an individual artist whose body of work has made a significant contribution to the arts over an extended period of time. The George Morrison Artist award comes with a $2,000 prize.

The George Morrison Artist Award is named after internationally acclaimed visual artist George Morrison (1919-2000), who was an important member of the second generation of American abstract expressionist artists. Morrison was heralded for successfully synthesizing American Indian themes with abstraction and surrealism. A life-long member of the Grand Portage Chippewa, he resided and worked for many years in the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota.

Maddie Simons Arts Advocate Award
This award recognizes an arts administrator, arts educator, volunteer for a nonprofit arts organization, or artist whose involvement in a project or program has substantially contributed to the arts in the Arrowhead Region. The Maddie Simons Arts Advocate award comes with a $1,000 prize.

The Maddie Simons Arts Advocate Award is named for Madeline Simons, the first volunteer Chair of the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Board. A long-time resident of Grand Marais, MN, she owned a dance studio, helped start the Grand Marais Playhouse, the Lutsen Art Fair, and Minnesota Citizens for the Arts.