Laura,

Please do not second guess what sort of pull is required. Just do it. Some artist someday (those mentioned above, for example), will appreciate your setting a side self doubt and just nominating them. If you don't have the time to build a case for support, gather materials (or even just some links) and write a few sentences, ask others to help you by sending letters. This is how it is done. If the public does not become involved and nominate, the jurors have nothing to consider. Please, take the plunge and do this for the three people you mention above.

I like being a part of an organization that celebrates the wealth of artistry here in the region. There is a pool of nominees, and it can take years for someone to be the winner in a certain year, but look at the company they keep! Klaus Roy had a great idea to do this back in 1960. Let's keep it going.

I have to tell you, I didn't start a dance company in order to receive recognition from Northern Ohio Live, but boy was  it a surprise when they called my name at that swanky affair decades ago. For a little while the sweat evaporated and the freight train slowed, I appreciated being appreciated by my community and my peers. Whoever that was who nominated me, I thank them.

For a few artists each year, being recognized in this way is sort of the least we can do. It's really just a nod, but we hope it brings a moment to reflect on the fact that this region would not be what it is without its artists. At the opening of the awards ceremony each year, when the past winners process as their names are read aloud, I get all teary just knowing that these are the people standing in line with me at the grocer, riding the train with me, having family picnics in the same parks I visit. The arts are not a miracle; they involve discipline and hard work. Cleveland Arts Prize works all year to celebrate that one evening each year. Be a part of it.

Talk about obscurity... read this one: Marjorie Witt Johnson. She was my mentor. I spoke with the new son-in-law of author and winner, Edith Iglauer Daly last summer, and he said that she cherished her Cleveland Arts Prize. New son-in-law? Yep, she was married at 89 last year to his father who is 92. These memories can mean a lot in future years. Already they do for me. Nominate someone whose work you feel passionate about.