Over half of this year’s Governor’s Arts and Humanities Awards recipients will hail from the capital city.

Four Juneauites — and the City and Borough of Juneau itself — will be among the eight Alaskans recognized at the 51st awards ceremony, Alaska Humanities Forum announced. This year’s ceremony will be prerecorded will be broadcast on KTOO’s 360 North TV and livestreamed at ktoo.org at 8 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2021.

Juneau residents who will receive awards this year include Kathy Kolkhorst Ruddy, who will be posthumously honored with a Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities Award; local artist and author Dale DeArmond, who will be honored by the Individual Artist Award; Bill Legere, KTOO’s president and general manager, who will receive the award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities in Leadership; Juneau Radio Center will be given the Arts Business Leadership; and the City and Borough of Juneau will be recognized for Government Leadership in the Arts.

Other award recipients include Rachel Epstein of Anchorage who will be recognized with the Distinguished Service to the Humanities award and Markle Pete of Glenallen who will posthumously recognized with the Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Native Arts and Languages.

“It is uplifting and reassuring to be able to work with the Governor’s Office, the Humanities Forum, and the Arts & Culture Foundation at this precarious and challenging time to recognize individuals and entities that make our lives so much better in Alaska,” said Alaska State Council on the Arts Chairman Benjamin Brown in a news release. “This year’s awardees all deserve accolades and recognition for their tremendous contributions; each, in their own distinct way, celebrate the beauty of life in Alaska, and help us consider what we can do to help each other live meaningful lives in challenging times. I encourage all Alaskans to join Governor Dunleavy and our three arts and culture organizations in applauding this year’s recipients of the Governor’s Arts & Humanities Awards.”

The first Governor’s Arts Award was in 1969, according the the humanities forum, and in the decades since, the awards have grown into an annual partnership among the Alaska Humanities Forum, the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation and the Office of the Governor.

• Contact the Juneau Empire newsroom at (907)308-4895.