The Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of Arkansas Heritage, is pleased to announce the 2026 Governor’s Arts Awards recipients. The recipients will be honored at a ceremony on March 13 at Robinson Center in Little Rock. 

Since 1991, the annual awards program has recognized individuals, organizations and businesses for their outstanding contributions to the arts in Arkansas. Recipients are nominated by the public, then selected by an independent panel of arts professionals. 

“The Governor’s Arts Awards are bestowed upon those artists, philanthropists and educators who have helped build and strengthen Arkansas’ thriving creative communities,” said Shea Lewis, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. “It’s our annual opportunity to showcase these leaders’ contributions to Arkansas’ creative economy and quality of life.” 
 
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.  
 
The following individuals and organizations will be honored: 

Michael Fothergill of Little Rock, Arts Community Development Award 

Michael Fothergill began his dance training in Iowa before earning scholarships to the Milwaukee Ballet School, Boston Ballet School and the School of American Ballet, later completing his studies at American Ballet Theatre. Over a nearly 20year career, he performed leading roles across the U.S., Europe and Asia with companies including Milwaukee Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre, City Ballet of San Diego and Alabama Ballet and was honored in Japan as an Artist of Extraordinary Merit. 
 
As executive and artistic director of Ballet Arkansas, Fothergill has transformed the organization into a nationally recognized institution, expanding its repertoire, cofounding the Ballet Arkansas School for Dance, eliminating debt and doubling its operating budget. Under his leadership, Ballet Arkansas has been named one of the Largest 75 Ballet Companies in America and twice recognized as Arkansas’s Best Performing Arts Organization. 
 
A sought-after choreographer and educator, Fothergill’s work has been performed internationally, and he has created multiple full-length productions for Arkansas audiences. His professional accolades include recognition from Arkansas Money & Politics, Soirée Magazine and Arkansas At Home. 

Corey Alderdice of Hot Springs, Arts in Education Award 

The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees appointed Corey Alderdice as executive director of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts (ASMSA) in 2012. He is now the school’s longest serving director.

During his tenure, Alderdice worked to elevate the state’s only public residential high school for talented students and developed new programs in computer science, global learning and the arts, which strengthened ASMSA’s early-college model. Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post, Niche and the Jay Matthews Challenge Index recognized ASMSA among the nation’s top and public, elite high schools. 

Over the past decade, Alderdice oversaw a $42.5 million transformation of the campus and expanded outreach programs that served more than 7,000 Arkansas students, educators and families each year. He received recognition from the National Consortium of STEM Schools, Bezos Family Foundation, Arkansas Business, the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and Arkansas Money and Politics magazine for his leadership in education and civic engagement. 

The Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville, Corporate Sponsorship of the Arts Award 

Northwest Arkansas Mall has been a Fayetteville landmark since it opened in 1972. In 2022, the mall deepened its community role by inviting local artists to explore the idea of creating a dedicated arts space within the mall.

Mason Asset Management hosted an informational meeting for interested artists, who learned the mall would donate a storefront if they organized operations and ensured the space served the broader community. From that meeting, about 50 artists formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and opened the Art Gallery at NWA Mall, a volunteer-run arts center located in a former Banana Republic storefront. The gallery now offers free classes, Kindergarten through 12th-grade exhibits, programs for veterans through the  Veterans Affairs art therapy program and a Teaching Gallery where emerging artists can show their work and keep all proceeds. The efforts have brought new creative energy to the mall and help fill once-vacant spaces. 
 
Office Manager Cindy Raleigh and Operations Manager Adam Raison serve as key liaisons to the nonprofit and continue to support the artists as the program grows. The mall’s decision to forgo profit to make these arts focused outreach possible reflects a rare commitment to community engagement and has become a defining part of its mission. Raison will accept this award on behalf of the NWA Mall and its owners. The recognition honors both the leadership that sparked the initiative and the stewardship that has allowed it to thrive as a vibrant cultural anchor within the mall.  

Kay Thomas of Mountain View, Folklife Award 

Kay Thomas was born in Little Rock to parents who had moved from Little River County in the late 1940s to seek better opportunities. Though she didn’t grow up on a farm as they had, she was deeply influenced by their love of music, quilting, dancing and traditional crafts, as well as by their stories of rural life.

After attending the Arkansas Folk Festival in Mountain View in 1966, she soon made the Ozarks her home. In 1973, she began working for the Ozark Foothills Handicraft Guild and later joined the gift shop at the new Ozark Folk Center, where she met weavers, spinners, quilters, blacksmiths, basket makers, potters and woodcarvers. She later worked in a similar role for the State of Arkansas and the Folk Center, where she collaborated with the Committee of One Hundred to develop craft apprenticeship programs that helped preserve traditional skills for future generations. She retired from the Folk Center in 2004.

Thomas continued to play music and sing with groups including The Blairs, Leatherwoods, Granny Chicks and Chinkypin and to deepen her interest in quilting through the Hill ’n Hollow Quilt Guild. She expanded her traditional quilting craft into art and machine quilting.

A member of the Strawberry River Chapter of the Daughters of American Revolution, she remains devoted to honoring Ozarks history and its resilient people. She volunteers with the Stone County Historical Society Museum in Mountain View, where she serves as vice president and worked to pass on respect for the region’s heritage and to inspire more grateful and knowledgeable future citizens. 

Sheila Holland Cotton of Little Rock, Individual Artist Award 

Sheila Holland Cotton is a highly acclaimed Arkansas artist known for richly painted oils that capture the visual experience of Arkansas and elevate the southern landscape into a symbolic, almost mystical presence.

Born in Morrilton and raised in North Little Rock, her deep Arkansas roots and childhood visits to south Arkansas shaped her lifelong fascination with agrarian places—fields, bottomlands, pecan groves and cotton and rice horizons. After studying English at the University of Arkansas, she moved to Canada, where her painting career flourished through major museum exhibitions and the prestigious Greenshields Foundation Award. Her work now appears in more than 40 museum and corporate collections across North America, and since returning to Little Rock in 2007, she has created the celebrated body of Arkansas landscapes for which she is widely recognized. 
 
Cotton’s work has been praised by critics, including Arkansas Democrat Gazette art journalist Ellis Widner, who has called her “one of our state’s best painters.” She has exhibited in numerous museum and gallery shows, with paintings held in permanent collections such as the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection, the South Arkansas Arts Center and the Fort Smith Convention Center & Gallery.

A dedicated supporter of the state’s arts community, she has been represented by leading Arkansas galleries and has quietly guided and supported the Arkansas Art Scene blog by helping spotlight hundreds of Arkansas artists. She continues to paint prolifically from her Little Rock studio, where she creates evocative works that honor Arkansas’ natural beauty, cultural memory and enduring sense of place.  

Al "Papa Rap" of Rogers, Judges Recognition Award 

Al “Papa Rap” Lopez is a self-taught musician from Puerto Rico who has called Arkansas home for the past 31 years. Celebrated for his musical compositions and community leadership, he is best known for his award-winning signature piece, “What’s Up, Que Pasa,” which won the global John Lennon Songwriting Competition. While many describe him as a community leader activist, Lopez sees himself as an artisan of musical poems, using his work to bring hope and happiness to others. 
 
Lopez's performances highlight the unifying power of his ArkanSalsa Caribbean musical style, where audiences of all backgrounds come together to dance, sing and play drums as one community. This ability to inspire collective joy has made him a beloved figure across Arkansas and beyond. Lopez’s guiding principles—“Smart Starts with Arts” (“La inteligencia con el arte comienza”) and “Together is better” (“Juntos es mejor”)—reflect his belief in the transformative power of creativity and connection. Al “Papa Rap” Lopez embodies the spirit of artistic creation for social good, using his music to uplift, unite, and celebrate the diverse communities he serves. 

The Charles A. Frueauff Foundation of Little Rock, Patron Award 

The Charles A. Frueauff Foundation (CAFF) is a private, family foundation established in 1950 through the Last Will and Testament of Charles A. Frueauff, a New York attorney devoted to charitable work. Since its founding, the foundation has awarded 10,500 grants supporting more than a thousand organizations across 34 states with significant investment in Arkansas over the past 25 years. Today, CAFF is managed by Charles’s great-great nephew and niece, David Frueauff and Anna Kay Frueauff, along with the Board of Trustees and Alma Willett. David and Anna Frueauff will accept the award on behalf of the foundation.  

The Frueauff family’s philanthropic leadership has significantly strengthened the arts in Arkansas, particularly through investments that connect the arts with education, mental health and community well-being. CAFF's support of Methodist Family Health Foundation has expanded vital art therapy programs for children and adolescents facing trauma, psychiatric challenges and emotional hardship. The support enabled the artist-in-residence work and summer art therapy at key treatment facilities.

The family is also longstanding supporters of the Thea Foundation, whose statewide arts education initiatives have grown substantially through CAFF’s generosity. The Foundation's commitment to accessibility, arts education, and nonprofit sustainability has empowered countless young people, strengthened community organizations, and affirmed the transformative power of the arts throughout Arkansas.