The event will take place Tuesday, May 18, 2010, from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Alaska Time in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts Voth Theatre, located at 621 W. 6th Avenue in Anchorage.
The recipient of the Distinguished Artist Award will receive $25,000 in unrestricted funds allowing him or her the freedom to reflect on completed works or to explore new artistic endeavors. In addition, the Individual Artist Awards program will announce 20 Project Awards of $5,000 and 8 Fellowships of $12,000 for a total of $200,000 in grants to emerging, mid-career and established artists from across Alaska.
Since its inception, the Rasmuson Foundation has awarded over $1.4 million in grants to nearly 191 individual Alaska artists as part of the Individual Artist Awards program. Recipients are chosen based on work that reflects the diverse cultural and aesthetic communities in Alaska.
Rasmuson Foundation will also be announcing this year's awards in the virtual world Second Life immediately following the live event, approximately 11:15 a.m. Second Life Time. Located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks virtual island Rhetorica, the gallery features the work of several dozen Alaska-based artists, each a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award recipient from the past. To enter the gallery, you must have a free Second Life account and avatar and go to the SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rhetorica/185/237/44.