Arlington Center for the Arts (ACA) is proud to announce the selection of Vanessa Schukis as the recipient of the 2024 Anne Briggs Artist Award for her long career and dedicated work in performing arts throughout the region and for her particular connection to ACA where she has been a teaching-artist, exhibiting artist, and volunteer for many years.
As a singer and actor, Vanessa has performed in the Boston National Company of Nunsense as well as with Boston Lyric Opera, Wheelock Family Theater; Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Longwood Opera Company, and The Greater Boston Stage Company, among many others. In addition, she has worked extensively throughout the region as a director and choreographer.
Vanessa is also an award-winning teacher with over thirty-five years of experience in arts education. Most recently, she taught at The Murphy School in Dorchester and The Harvard-Kent School in Charlestown through The Community Music Center of Boston. Vanessa has served as a member of the guest faculty at New England Conservatory and the visiting faculty at Longy School of Music. She is a recipient of the MacDill Award for excellence in teaching.
At ACA, Vanessa has worked as a teaching-artist in our camp program for over ten years, leading classes for children in musical theatre, creative play, and visual arts. This summer she will serve as our creative movement teacher. A certified playmaker, Vanessa led a workshop for camp staff this past spring, focusing on the healing power of play and informed by trauma-based care for kids. Vanessa is also an accomplished visual artist who has exhibited mosaics pieces at ACA where she has often volunteered her time for a variety of projects.
Each year, in the spring, ACA presents the Anne Briggs Artist Award to a deserving individual who has done distinguished work and made important contributions to the local community through ACA. The award comes with a $250 stipend to help address the challenges artists face in realizing their own personal artistic goals, such as purchasing materials, paying fees to participate in exhibits, or other professional development activities that advance their creative work.
This award is made possible through the generosity of the Briggs/Bell family. It honors the memory of Anne Briggs, a longtime member of ACA and prize-winning artist who worked in watercolor, pen & ink, and mixed media and whose pieces were exhibited in galleries across the state.
ACA is proud to acknowledge Vanessa Schukis and her many contributions that advance our mission of inspiring joy, nurturing growth, and building community through the arts. Our thanks and congratulations go out to her.
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