On Wednesday, the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) announced the 2012 Governor's Award for the Arts and Humanities winners and named the state of Alaska's Writer Laureate.
The ASCA announced that this year's arts awards and honors will be granted to John "Sinnaq" Sinnok of Shishmaref, Alaska for his work in Arts Education; Individual artist Gail Niebrugge of Palmer, Alaska; Native Arts artist Susie "Qimmiqsak" Bevins-Ericsen of Anchorage, Alaska; and Palmer, Alaska's Valley Performing Arts for the Governor's award in Arts Organization.
Awards for "distinguished services to the humanities" have been given to the Alutiiq Museum's executive director Sven Haakanson, Jr. of Kodiak, Alaska; to founding director of Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference Carol Swartz; and to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska.
This year's state Writer Laureate award goes to Nora Marks Dauenhauer of Juneau, Alaska.
The awards will be presented at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on Thursday, Oct. 18 during a ceremony sponsored by the Alaska Humanities Forum, the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Office of the Governor. To register to attend, go to the Governor's Award page here or visit the Alaska Humanities Forum here.