from the Vermont Arts Council:
The Vermont Art Council is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020 recognizing outstanding individual and organizational contributions to the arts. Awards honor educators, artists, performers, advocates, administrators, volunteers, and scholars.
Ray Vega of South Burlington will receive the .
“We are honored to recognize these five extraordinary individuals,” said Arts Council Executive Director Karen Mittelman. “Each one of them has been a trailblazer, in his or her own way. Their creativity moves, inspires, and stretches us – as Vermonters and as human beings.”
This award is presented to individuals who have made a sustained contribution to learning in and through the arts and/or had a positive impact on the quality of education in Vermont. The award is named in honor of Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, former Executive Director of the Vermont Arts Council and President of Marlboro College. Recognition may be for work done on the local, statewide or national level, and is expected to focus on, but not be limited to activities related to pre-K through 12 education.
Vega is a three-time Grammy award winning jazz musician, bandleader, and a senior lecturer in jazz history and trumpet at ̽̽. He is perhaps best-known to Vermonters as the host of Vermont Public Radio’s Friday Night Jazz program. In 2015, ̽̽ honored Vega with the distinguished title of University Scholar for 2015-2016, making him the first creative artist in the university's history to receive the high honor. As an educator, Vega has been invited to conduct master classes in trumpet performance, jazz improvisation, brass performance techniques and Afro-Caribbean jazz for numerous schools and organizations in the United States and in other countries across the world.
Congratulations, Prof. Vega!