The Governor’s Arts Awards program signifies the important relationship between government and the arts. Established in 1988, the Governor’s Arts Awards recognize individuals and organizations who have made noteworthy contributions to or achieved artistic excellence in Mississippi and is the most prestigious award for living artists in the state. The Mississippi Arts Commission presents the awards each year in partnership with the Governor’s Office.

2027 Governor’s Arts Awards

The Mississippi Arts Commission, in partnership with the Governor’s Office, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2027 Governor’s Arts Awards.

The 2027 recipients and awards are as follows:

Alvin Shelby, Lifetime Achievement

Doy D. Gorton, Excellence in Photography

Duwane Pendarvis, Excellence in Dance

Square Books, Arts in Community

Wright Thompson, Excellence in Literature

The 2027 recipients will be recognized at the award ceremony on Thursday, February 11, 2027, at The Westin Jackson. A public reception will take place at 4:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 6 p.m., at The Westin Jackson. A one-hour program featuring all five recipients will air in Spring of 2027 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

Alvin Shelby – Lifetime Achievement

Natchez, MS
Alvin Shelby is a music educator, music director, and performer with more than 40 years of experience, 35 of which he spent teaching at Cathedral Catholic School in Natchez, MS. Shelby has inspired numerous students who have gone on to pursue musical careers. He specializes in traditional inspirational music, but also enjoys writing and performing music for children, film, and jazz. He has worked with many great talents, including Lemmie Battles of the Chicago Mass Choir, Dr. Margaret Douroux of Los Angeles, CA, Dr. Princella Lee of Chicago, Elton John, Benjamin Cone, Tricia Walker, David Curry, the Mississippi Mass Choir, and many others. He has performed around the world, and his work has appeared in numerous television and film productions. He has also been band leader and musical director for many recording sessions, including Holy Family Gospel Choir in Natchez, MS, the award-winning program Southern Road to Freedom, and many others.

Doy D. Gorton – Excellence in Photography

Greenville, MS (currently residing in Carbondale, IL)
Doy D. Gorton is a photojournalist who worked as Chief Photographer of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Photographer for the New York Times, covering the White House and Capitol Hill. Gorton attended the University of Mississippi, where he became engaged with the Southern Civil Rights Movement through Fannie Lou Hamer and John Lewis. He was the only white Mississippian on the staff of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During his time in SNCC, he decided to become a photographer. In addition to his journalistic work, Gorton shot the image used on the 1990 Fleetwood Mac album cover for “Behind the Mask” and was the photographer for “A River Runs Through It,” among other Hollywood and commercial projects.

Duwane Pendarvis – Excellence in Dance

Jackson, MS
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Duwane Pendarvis is an accomplished dancer and educator whose career spans 50-plus years with performance experience in Concert Dance, European Tours, Festivals, Musical Theatre, and Television. Pendarvis embraced professional dance after earning a four-year music scholarship at Tougaloo College, training with renowned figures such as Gus Giordano and Joel Hall. He became a Principal Dancer and Assistant Director with the Joel Hall Dancers, touring nationally and internationally, and later gained experience with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and many others. For 30 years, the Joel Hall Dancers were his home. Pendarvis has choreographed, taught, and led programs in Chicago, Los Angeles, and his home state of Mississippi, including serving as Artistic Director of Joel Hall II and Resident Choreographer for Montage Theatre of Dance. In 2021, he launched Duwane Pendarvis & Company Dance Theatre.

Square Books – Arts in Community

Oxford, MS
Founded in 1979 by Richard and Lisa Howorth, Square Books is a general bookstore located on the historic town square in Oxford, Mississippi, home of William Faulkner and the University of Mississippi. With four stores and over 10,000 square feet on the square, all readers will find something to their liking. Square Books hosts over 150 author events per year and has many signed and collectible books, a very strong literary fiction section, and Southern fiction and history. The second floor of Square Books has a coffee bar so browsers can enjoy a cup and, when the weather is fair, relax on the balcony overlooking the courthouse. 

Wright Thompson – Excellence in Literature

Clarksdale, MS
Wright Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN. His work has been anthologized in Best American Sports Writing more than anyone in history. He is the author of three bestsellers: “The Cost of These Dreams,” “Pappyland,” and “The Barn,” which was named Time Magazine’s non-fiction book of the year. He has won the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sports Writing and the Ernie Pyle Award for international reporting (he’s been in war zones in Iraq and Ukraine). He has won two Emmy Awards for reporting, including one from Kyiv during the war. He is the executive producer and creator of “TrueSouth” on the SEC Network, the Emmy Award winning series that celebrates the South. His hero is Willie Morris. He is also a fifth-generation farmer in Bolivar County and a proud Mississippi resident. When asked why he lives here, when he works remotely, he often quotes Eudora Welty: “Because it’s home.”

Presenting Partner

---

BECOME A SPONSOR

We could not honor these incredible artists without your partnership and support! The history of legacy-building contributions for this awards program is a testament to Mississippians’ resounding support for the arts. Your tax-deductible sponsorship of the Governor’s Arts Awards will demonstrate your investment in the arts throughout our state and help ensure the event’s continuation.

To sponsor the 2027 Governor’s Arts Awards, please complete the online sponsorship form through the Community Foundation for Mississippi (CFM). When you fill out the online sponsorship form, the number shown is not associated with the number of tickets; it is the number of sponsorships at the level selected.

Presenting Sponsor: $10,000

10 reserved seats at the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony
10 invitations to the Governor’s Mansion VIP Reception & photo opportunity
Framed event poster signed by the Governor and recipients
Logo recognition on the program and the poster
Mentioned in the Executive Director’s speech during the ceremony

Premier Partner: $5,000

6 reserved seats at the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony
6 invitations to the Governor’s Mansion VIP Reception & photo opportunity
Framed event poster signed by the Governor and recipients

Principal Partner: $2,500

4 reserved seats at the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony
4 invitations to the Governor’s Mansion VIP Reception
Framed event poster signed by the Governor and recipients

Grand Patron: $1,500

2 reserved seats at the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony
2 invitations to the Governor’s Mansion VIP Reception
Framed event poster signed by the Governor

Patron: $750

2 reserved seats at the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony
Framed event poster signed by the Governor

Donor: $500

2 reserved seats at the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony

If you would like to sponsor by check, please print and complete the printable sponsorship form and mail it in. Click here for the printable sponsorship form.

Please make checks payable to “Community Foundation for Mississippi” and include “Fund for Excellence in the Arts” in the memo line. Please mail your check with your completed sponsorship form:
Mississippi Arts Commission
455 N. Lamar Street, Suite 2A
Jackson, Mississippi 39202.

The Community Foundation for Mississippi will send you a tax deduction form.

To be recognized on print materials, sponsorships must be made by January 6, 2027.

---

NOMINATE AN ARTIST OR ORGANIZATION

Each year, members of the public are invited to nominate outstanding individuals and organizations to receive a Governor’s Arts Award—nominations for the 2028 Governor’s Arts Awards will be accepted beginning on April 15, 2027, through June 5, 2027.

Who is eligible?
Artists or organizations that have made significant contributions to the arts will be considered to receive this award. Nominated artists do not have to reside in the state currently, but must have significant ties to the state through some years of residency. Self-nominations are not accepted, but you can ask someone to nominate you. Awards are given once; previous recipients are ineligible. Also, no posthumous nominations will be accepted. If selected, the nominee must agree to receive the award in person at the ceremony in Jackson, Mississippi.

Nomination and Selection Process
Nominations open each spring. The public is encouraged to submit nominations for the Governor’s Arts Awards once the nomination period opens. Once the nominations are submitted, a panel of judges, many of whom possess a deep knowledge of Mississippi’s visual and performing arts, selects several nominees to receive a Governor’s Arts Award. 

Nomination Information

MAC is using our grants system for the nomination process this year. Utilizing this system will allow nominators to save their progress, collaborate with others, and easily reapply if their nominee is not selected. If you are still unfamiliar with the system or need to create an account, please contact us at 601-359-6030.

When you create an account, please enter your information only. Once the account is created, you will see an option to fill out a nomination form. The form is where you will enter the details of the person you are nominating.

If you have an account within the system and want to use something other than that account for your nomination, or if you are with an organization and would like to nominate someone NOT on behalf of your organization, you must create a new account with a different e-mail.

---

Watch Past Governor’s Arts Awards

Each year, MAC and Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) partner to record and broadcast the awards ceremony on MPB Television. We are grateful for MPB’s continued support!

PAST AWARDEES

Download a complete listing of previous Governor’s Arts Award recipients by name (Excel spreadsheet)

2026

• Jesse Robinson – Lifetime Achievement
• Dorothy “Dottie” Armstrong – Excellence in Arts Education
• Heather Christian – Excellence in Music Composition
• Greg Harkins – Excellence in Traditional Craft
• Mississippi Symphony Orchestra – Excellence in Performing Arts

2025

• Eddie Cotton Jr. – Excellence in Music
• Walt Grayson – Lifetime Achievement
• Jane C. Hiatt – Stephen C. Edds Patron of the Arts
• Robert Poore– Excellence in Landscape Architecture and Visual Arts
• Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band – Excellence in Traditional Arts
• Tate Taylor – Excellence in Motion Picture

2024

• 100 Men Hall – Arts in Community
• Earl Poole Ball – Lifetime Achievement
• Cedric Burnside – Excellence in Music
• Brent Funderburk – Excellence in Visual Arts and Education
• Peter Zapletal – Excellence in Performing Arts

2023

• Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth – Excellence in Literature & Poetry
• Betsy Bradley – Leadership in Visual Arts & Community
• Ed McGowin – Lifetime Achievement
• Ke Francis – Excellence in Visual Arts
• King Edward Antoine – Excellence in Music
• Ralph Eubanks – Excellence in Literature & Cultural Ambassador
• Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation – The Stephen C. Edds Patron of the Arts Award

2022

• Alcorn State University Jazz Festival – Arts in Community
• Myrna Colley-Lee – Excellence in Costume Design & Arts Patron
• Larry Gordon – Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures & Television
• Holly Lange – Governor’s Choice Award
• Mary Lovelace O’Neal – Excellence in Visual Art
• The Williams Brothers – Lifetime Achievement in Music

2021

• Arthur Jafa – Excellence in Media Arts
• Nellie McInnis – Excellence in Music
• Raphael Semmes – Cultural Ambassador
• Tutwiler Quilters – Arts in Community
• Jesmyn Ward – Excellence in Literature
• Benjamin Wright – Lifetime Achievement

2020

• Henry Danton – Lifetime Achievement in Dance
• Steve Forbert – Excellence in Music
• Jackson Southernaires – Lifetime Achievement in Music
• Richard Kelso – Excellence in Visual Art
• Tougaloo College Art Collections – Preservation of the Arts

2019

• London Branch – Excellence in Music and Education
• The Canton Spirituals – Lifetime Achievement
• Ruth Miller – Excellence in Visual Arts
• New Stage Theatre – Excellence in Theatre
• Hartley and Mary Peavey – Governor’s Choice Award
• James Patterson – Excellence in Photography and Community Support
• Julia Reed – Cultural Ambassador

2018

• Steve Azar – Governor’s Choice Award
•  David Keary – Leadership in Performing Arts
•  Joe Overstreet – Excellence in Visual Art
•  V. A. Patterson – Community Arts Leader
•  Yoknapatawpha Arts Council – Arts in Community

2017

• William R. Ferris – Lifetime Achievement
• Sammy Britt – Excellence in Visual Art
• Vasti Jackson – Arts Ambassador
• Lucy Richardson Janoush – Arts Patron
• Jaimoe Johnie Johnson – Excellence in Music
• Mississippi Opera – Artistic Excellence

2016

• Tom ‘Bones’ Malone
• Scott Barretta
• Claudia Cartee
• Tig Notaro
• Dr. Tommie ‘Tonea’ Stewart

2015

• Lane Chapel Quintet
• Chesney Blankenstein Doyle
• Maude Schuyler Clay
• MSU Riley Center
• Craig Wiseman

2014

• Lesley Silver
• John Maxwell
• William Baggett
• Jim Weatherly
• James Cotton

2013

• Kathryn Lewis
• Bay St. Louis Little Theatre
• Beth Henley
• Eddie “Chank” Willis
• Bobby Rush

2012

• Althea Jerome
• Howard Bahr
• WellsFest
• Carl Jackson
• McCarty Pottery
• Mose Allison

2011

• Charles A. Rhoads
• Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration
• Gwendolyn Magee
• Mac McAnally
• Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins

2010

• Lenagene Waldrup
• Bessie Johnson
• Grassroots Radio Show
• Wyatt Waters
• David “Honeyboy” Edwards

2009

• University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
• WINGS Performing Arts Program of the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center
• Wolfe Studio
• Cassandra Wilson
• John Grisham
• Andrew Bucci

2008

• Mississippi Museum of Art
• Emma McCain
• Lallah Miles Perry
• Natasha Trethewey
• Charley Pride

2007

• Nora Davis Magnet School
• Viking Range Corporation
• Sam Gilliam
• Sam Carr
• Bo Diddley

2006

• Sam Myers
• Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi
• Bruce Levingston
• Fletcher Cox
• Casey Elementary School
• Trustmark National Bank
• Elizabeth Spencer

2005

• Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
• Pearl Public School District
• Thacker Mountain Radio
• Gladys Kemp Lisanby
• Sela Ward
• Will D. Campbell

2004

• Greenville Arts Council
• James “Super Chikan” Johnson
• Rankin County School District
• Malcolm White
• Mary Katherine Loyacono McCravey

2003

• Dr. David Stuart Blackburn
• Thallis Lewis
• Charles Burnett
• Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education
• USA International Ballet Competition
• William Eggleston
• Rust College A’Cappella Choir
• Little Milton (Campbell)

2002

• B.B. King
• John Paul
• Bologna Performing Arts Center
• Sally W. Carmichael
• The Village of Taylor
• Andrew Cary Young
• William Carey College Theatre
• Dr. Russell Thomas, Jr.
• Stephen E. Ambrose

2001

• Abie “Boogaloo” Ames
• George Berry
• Roger D. Malkin
• Samuel Mockbee
• Pierce Street Elementary School
• Ronald Otto Schnell
• Lester Senter
• Martha Layton Richardson Tatum

2000

• Larry Brown
• Senator Thad Cochran
• Crossroads Quilters
• Sarah Gillespie
• Hattiesburg Arts Council
• Andrew Lark, Jr.
• Charlie Musselwhite
• John Palmer
• Stewart Family Pottery

1999

• Johnnie Billington
• Ellen Douglas (Josephine Haxton)
• P. Sanders McNeal
• Mississippi State Hospital—Community Services Homeless Program
• Museum of Southern Jewish Experience
• Colman Pearce
• Kenneth Quinn
• Roebuck “Pops” Staples
• Marty Stuart

1998

• Beechwood Elementary School
• Vicksburg Warren School District—For Project ABC (Arts in the Basic Curriculum)
• The Cotton Blossom Singers of the Piney Woods School
• Dr. David Daigeneault
• Eastman Memorial Foundation for support of the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art
• Milt Hinton
• Natchez Opera Festival, Inc.

1997

• Dr. Paul E. Ballard
• Marshall Bouldin
• Dr. Samuel Marshall Gore
• International Paper
• The Knight Foundation through The Sun Herald
• The City of Biloxi
• The George E. Ohr Arts and Cultural Center
• The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County
• Malaco Records
• Dr. Jean Simmons

1996

• Entergy/MP&L Company
• Morgan Freeman
• Sid Graves
• Lisa N. Howorth
• Dorothy Moore
• Dan Overly
• University Press of Mississippi
• Theo Inman Vaughey

1995

• Thomas Jones Biggs
• Shelby Foote
• Gum Tree Festival
• Bill Mitchell
• William D. Mounger
• New Stage Theatre Education Program
• Lida Rogers
• Billie Jean Young

1994

• Robert Parker Adams
• B & P Interiors, Hinds County Public Schools, and Hinds County Department of Human Services
• Nelle DeLoach Elam
• Keith Dockery McLean
• Mississippi Action for Community Education/Delta Arts Project
• Willie Morris
• Jim Timms

1993

• Patti Carr Black
• Vicki Bodenhamer
• Eleanor Ferris
• Richard Ford
• Thomas Somerville Howorth
• Mississippi Educational Television Network, Mtel, USA International Ballet Competition
• Othar Turner

1992

• Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander
• Walter Anderson Museum of Art, City of Ocean Springs, and Jackson County Board of Supervisors
• Crosby Arboretum
• Jane Reid-Petty
• South Central Bell
• West Tallahatchie High School
• Mary Jayne Whittington

1991

• Center for the Study of Southern Culture
• Chevron USA
• Corinth Area Arts Council
• William Dunlap
• Jackson Public Schools and Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
• Ethel Wright Mohamed
• Malcolm C. Norwood

1990

• Stuart C. Irby, Jr.
• Thalia Mara
• Mississippi Cultural Crossroads and Claiborne County Board of Supervisors
• Mississippi Mass Choir
• Noxubee County Library
• Starkville High School
• Eudora Welty

1989

No award ceremony took place this year.

1988

• The Arts Alliance of Jackson & Hinds County
• Deposit Guaranty National Bank
• Barry Hannah
• City of Jackson
• Jackson Public Schools/Academic and Performing Arts Complex Performing Arts Division
• Jean Chisolm Lindsey
• Leontyne Price