Milestone Award Recipients

Each year the National Guild presents the Milestone Award to individuals who have provided long-standing, exceptional service to the community arts education field.

2021 Recipients

  • Lisa Ecklund-Flores, Executive Director/Founder (Retired), Church Street School for Music & Art, NY
  • Mark Huxsoll, Director, Temple Music Prep, PA
  • Erin Perry, Executive Director, Legacy Arts Project, PA
  • Kelly Pollock, Executive Director, Center of Creative Arts, MO
  • Judith Ryder, Founding Managing Director, Cleveland Arts Education Consortium, OH
  • Peggy Senter, President (Retired), Concord Community Music School, NH
  • Kathleen Suss, Executive Director, Concordia Conservatory, NY 

2019 Recipients

  • Dava Cansler, Founder & Executive Director, Foluké Cultural Arts Center, OH
  • Joyce Drayton, Founder & Executive Director, The Georgia E. Gregory Interdenominational School of Music (GEGISOM), PA
  • Jon Hinojosa, Artistic & Executive Director, SAY Sí, TX
  • Matthew Hinsley, Executive Director, Austin Classical Guitar, TX
  • SoYoung Lee, Executive Director, Rocky Ridge Music Center, CO
  • Davin Pierson Torre, Director, Flint School of Performing Arts, MI
  • Sonja Zeithamel, Director, Preucil School of Music, IA  

2018 Recipients

  • Eric Anderson, Branch Director, Settlement Music School, Philadelphia, PA

  • Josiah Bruny, Founder/CEO, Music Changing Lives, CA

  • Lovett Hines, Artistic and Education Director, The Philadelphia Clef Club, Philadelphia, PA

  • Sachiko Isihara, Executive Director, Suzuki School of Newton, MA

  • Michael Remson, Executive and Artistic Director, American Festival for the Arts, Houston, TX

  • Teresa Coleman Wash, Executive Artistic Director, Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Dallas, TX

  • Bobby Welch, Executive Director, Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation, Gadsden, AL

2017 Recipients

  • Renee Chatelain, President & CEO, Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA
  • Sarah Crowell, Artistic Director, Destiny Arts Center, Oakland, CA
  • James Kass, Founder & Executive Director, Youth Speaks, San Francisco, CA
  • Michele Kotler, Founder and Executive Director of Community-Word Project (CWP), New York, NY
  • Yolande Nicholson Spears, Senior Vice President of Education & Community Initiatives at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Hartford, CT
  • Rick Sperling, Founder & Artistic Director, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, Detroit, MI

2016 Recipients

  • Cynthia Campoy Brophy, Executive Director and Founder, artworxLA, Los Angeles, CA
  • Bau Graves, Executive Director, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL
  • David Lapin, Executive Director, Community Music Center of Boston, Boston, MA
  • Nancy Ng, Director of Community Engagement, Luna Dance Institute, Berkeley, CA
  • Laurie Russell, Executive Director, Winchester Community Music School, Winchester, MA
  • Kwame Scruggs, Founder and Director of Programs and Trainings, Alchemy, Akron, OH

2015 Recipients

  • Rosie Lee Hooks, Director, Watts Towers Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA
  • Lydia Kontos, Executive Director, Kaufman Music Center, New York, NY
  • Leslie Thomas, Community Arts Director, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, CA
  • J. Curtis Warner Jr., Founding Executive Director, Berklee City Music, Boston, MA
  • Linda Weise, Founding CEO, Colorado Springs Conservatory, Colorado Springs, CO
  • Dorothy Wilkie, Artistic Director, Kulu Mele African Dance and Drum Ensemble, Philadelphia PA

2014 Recipients

  • Glenna Avila, Director, CalArts Community Arts Partnership, Los Angeles, CA
  • Jo Ellen DeVilbiss, Executive and Artistic Director, The Conservatory of Central Illinois, Champaign, IL
  • Beth Dowd, Founder, Songcatchers, New Rochelle, NY
  • Robert Gilson, Director, School of the Arts, 92nd Street Y, New York, NY
  • Jeanne Kelly, Founder/Executive Director, Encore Creativity for Older Adults, Tracys Landing, MD
  • Robert C. McAllister, Dean, The Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, Los Angeles, CA
  • Lynn Warshafsky, Co-Founder, Venice Arts, Venice, CA

2013 Recipients

  • Susanne Baker, Founder and Director, DePaul Community Music Division, Chicago IL
  • Paulette Bowes, Executive Director, All Newton Music School, West Newton, MA
  • Amy Dennison, Assistant Dean and Director, College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Dept., Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
  • Martha Frantz, Executive Director, The Music Academy, Rockford, IL
  • Stuart Kandell, Founder and Theatre Director, Stagebridge, Oakland, CA
  • Dorothy Kaplan Roffman, Founding Director, JCC Thurnauer School of Music, Tenafly, NJ
  • Larry Zukof, Executive Director, Neighborhood Music School, New Haven, CT

2012 Recipients

  • Duffie Adelson, President, Merit School of Music, Chicago, IL
  • Priscilla Kane Hellweg, Executive Director, Enchanted Circle Theater, Holyoke, MA
  • Judy Herman, Executive Director, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
  • Doris Preucil, Founder, Preucil School of Music, Iowa City, IA
  • Peggy Quackenbush, President and Executive Director, Hochstein School of Music and Dance, Rochester, NY
  • George Tepping, Executive Director, Wausau Conservatory of Music, Wausau, WI

2011 Recipients (known at the time as "Certificate of Appreciation")

  • Williams Njoku
  • Michael Walsh
  • Stephen Shiman
  • Jesse Bermudez
  • B. C. Vermeersch
  • Stephanie Riven