Programs

Creative Community Champion Awards

CREATE WISCONSIN PRESENTED
2024 CREATIVE COMMUNITY CHAMPION AWARDS
AT LEAGUE OF WISCONSIN MUNICIPALITIES ANNUAL CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 24, 2024 | MIDDLETON, WI

The annual Wisconsin Creative Community Champion Awards (formerly Arts in the Community Awards) are presented by Create Wisconsin in partnership with the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. These awards honor civic leaders as champions and communities in Wisconsin focused on creativity as integral to economic, educational, and community vitality.

Create Wisconsin presented the 2024 Awards to 14 Wisconsin municipal arts advisory committees.  The awards were presented to elected officials and local leaders representing these committees and communities at the League of Wisconsin Municipalities’ Annual Conference in Middleton on October 24, 2024.  Create Wisconsin has presented these awards to civic champions of the arts and creativity - individuals, organizations, businesses, and local government agencies - since 2009.  The 2024 awardees are:

Amery: City of Arts, Parks, and Recreation Committee

Appleton: City of Appleton Public Art Committee

Green Bay: City of Green Bay Public Arts Commission

Kenosha: City of Kenosha Arts Commission

Madison: City of Madison Arts Commission

Middleton: City of Middleton Public Art Committee

Milwaukee: City of Milwaukee Arts Board

Neenah: City of Neenah Arts Council

Oshkosh: City of Oshkosh Museum, Arts and Culture Board

Rhinelander: City of Rhinelander Public Art Commission

Sturgeon Bay: City of Sturgeon Bay Local Arts Board

Superior: City of Superior Public Art Committee

Waukesha: Public Art Advisory Committee - City of Waukesha

Wausau: City of Wausau Public Art Commission

In addition, the City of La Crosse Arts Board and the Waunakee Creative Economy Initiative (now Create Waunakee) have previously received this award.  

These municipal citizen advisory committees oversee cultural programs, public art projects, creative economy development, policy, funding and fundraising, and accessibility for city and village residents in their communities.  They are charged with improving a community’s visibility, engagement for all, and sense of place through arts and cultural opportunities and actions.

“These communities, large and small, understand that local arts and cultural assets are more important than ever as cities and villages seek to incubate, attract and retain talent,” says Zach Vruwink, League Deputy Director and Create Wisconsin board member.  “These committees are encouraging engagement with the arts and creative economy development from the ground up, helping communities and the state show off and celebrate creative opportunities for all.”

For more information about the awards, Create Wisconsin’s advocacy, service, and development work, and the arts, culture, and creativity in Wisconsin, contact Anne Katz, Director, 608 255 8316 | info@createwisconsin.org. 

The awards are sponsored by the League of Municipalities, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, and Kohler Foundation.

Presenting Organizations

Create Wisconsin is Wisconsin’s community cultural development organization, bringing people together through creative experiences and activating and strengthening Wisconsin’s creative economy, workforce and communities. 

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities is a nonprofit and nonpartisan association of cities and villages that acts as an information clearinghouse, lobbying organization, technical assistance provider, and legal resource throughout Wisconsin.

 

Previous Honorees

  • 2024:  Rep. Todd Novak, 51st Assembly District

  • 2023: League of Wisconsin Municipalities

  • 2022: City of La Crosse Public Arts Commission

  • 2021: Wisconsin’s civic Poets Laureate and Writers-in-Residence, from Amery, Bayfield, Eau Claire, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Racine, Sheboygan, and Wausau.

  • 2020:  Zach Vruwink, Administrator, City of Rhinelander and former Mayor, City of Wisconsin Rapids

  • 2019:  the City of Waupaca and the Waupaca Arts and Culture Coalition for ongoing partnership on the city’s first-ever cultural plan, and Altoona Mayor Brendan Pratt

  • 2018:  Ken Juon, President, Board of Directors, Artstart, Rhinelander, and Ryan Heise, Village Administrator, Village of Egg Harbor

  • 2017:  Mark Elliott, Executive Director, Northwest Passage, Webster; and Stephanie Samarripa, Anti-Graffiti Program Coordinator, City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services

  • 2016:  Creative Downtown Appleton, led by Josh Dukelow, community activist, and Paula Vandehey, City of Appleton Public Works Director; and Alan Nugent, civic leader and a founder of the Widespot Performing Arts Center in Stockholm

  • 2015:  the City of West Bend, for long-term commitment to promote the visual and performing arts in West Bend; and the Waunakee Creative Economy Initiative, a village-led, ongoing effort to grow Waunakee’s creative economy.

  • 2014:  Circuit Court Judge Joseph Boles and Pierce County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, based in Ellsworth, WI, for using the arts to improve law enforcement training in de-escalating mental health crisis calls; and Reedsburg Mayor Dave Estes, Reedsburg City Administrator Ken Witt, and Reedsburg Chamber of Commerce Director Kristine Koenecke for support of Fermentation Fest – A Live Culture Convergence and the Farm/Art DTour. 

  • 2013:  Rice Lake Main Street Program, Rice Lake; and the Sheboygan Performing Arts Association, Sheboygan

  • 2012:  State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, River Falls; State Sen. Bob Jauch, Poplar; Marlene Doerr Kreilkamp, Founder/Former Director, SHARP Literacy, Milwaukee; and Anastasia Shartin, Visual Arts Director, Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson

  • 2011:  Bill Schierl, President, Arts Alliance of Portage County, Stevens Point; and former Mayor Jeff Scrima, Waukesha

  • 2010: Lois Smith, founder of “Walls of Wittenberg,” Wittenberg; Julia Taylor, President, Greater Milwaukee Committee, Milwaukee; the Green Bay Neighborhood Leadership Council’s Beautification Committee, Green Bay; and The Hometown Gazette newspaper, Clayton

  • 2009: Carol Kratchowill, Vice President, Sauk County Art Association, Merrimac; and Former Menomonie Mayor Dennis Cropp and former Dunn County Board member B. Jane Hoyt, for the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts, Menomonie.