Singer-songwriter Kelley Hunt and Emporia State University art professor Elaine Henry received two of the Governor’s Arts Awards on Thursday night.
Altogether, seven awards were presented at Washburn University by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas Arts Commission. Both Hunt and Henry received awards as individual artists.
Henry has taught at Emporia State University since 1996 and chairs the art department there. Her ceramics have been exhibited internationally and she is a past president of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. She recently took a month-long trip to China, creating pieces that will appear in the first collection of the new American Ceramics Museum in FuPing.
Hunt, a former Emporian, is also a member of the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Known for a style that combines country, rhythm &blues and more, Hunt has released three CDs with a fourth coming out this year. She has made more than 1,000 live performances including multiple appearances on Prairie Home Companion. She will be performing in Emporia on July 3.
The Distinguished Arts Award went to award-winning screen and stage actress Shirley Knight.