Cast Your Vote in YAC's First-Ever Oxford Art Awards

Arts groups in Lafayette County have collaborated on a new event, the Oxford Day for Art, to be held Tuesday, Jan. 23, and residents can join in by nominating their favorite local artists, authors and performers for the inaugural Oxford Art Awards.
The event will be a community-wide effort to celebrate the arts, spotlight the diverse local talent and recognize the contributions made by the arts. It reinforces the Pop-Up Oxford Week celebration and marketing campaign by Visit Oxford, which encourages locals and visitors to discover the cultural offerings of the community.
The Day for Art event kicks off with a free Art Crawl, which offers a tour of visual art spaces in Oxford from 6-8 p.m. Participants can jump on the Double Decker bus and tour the University Museum, the Powerhouse, Southside Gallery, Gallery 130, the Burns-Belfry Museum, and the LQC Lamar House as well as other one-night-only pop-up shows.
Following the Art Crawl, the Powerhouse will host an after-party from 8-10 p.m. The celebration will include live performances by local musicians, authors and performing artists. Guests also have a chance to win “a year of art” with tickets to events at various venues in Oxford.
Capping the event will be the presentation of the first Oxford Art Awards. From now until Jan. 23, local residents can nominate and then vote online for the arts and culture elements that represent our community, with the award winners announced at the after-party. Categories include:
Musical Performance or Artist
Live Staged or Film Performance
Visual Artist
Visual Art Show/Space
Literary
Festival, Special Event or Conference
Best Filmmaker or New Media Artist
Promotion of the Arts in Oxford/Lafayette County
The concept behind the Day for Art is simple, said Wayne Andrews, executive director of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. Local arts groups aim to pool resources and share the work of creating an event that introduces residents and visitors to the wide range of art offerings in Oxford. The organizations range from high school drama programs and the Oxford Film Festival to the Oxford Civic Choir and more than a dozen other art programs in the community.
“The idea came out of discussions by local arts leaders when it was announced that Volunteer Mississippi would stop supporting local volunteer programs and the annual Mississippi Day of Giving,” Andrews said. “Our mission is to support local artists and arts organizations, who expressed a need for this type of program that helped raise awareness of arts programming in our community and raised funds. We are happy to be a resource for our local arts groups to work together.”

Special to HottyToddy.com.