The Mayor’s Awards ceremony honored local supporters of the arts.
Mayor Sandy Bloem presented a North Idaho College art instructor with the Excellence in Arts Award Oct. 10 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.
The Mayor’s Awards in the Arts are presented by the Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission and the City of Coeur d’Alene to recognize and encourage excellence in the arts and to stimulate and support awareness of the arts throughout the city.
NIC art instructor Michael Horswill accepts the Excellence in Arts Award at the 16th annual Mayor’s Awards in the Arts. The ceremony was held in the Coeur d’Alene Resort and was hosted by Mayor Sandy Bloem. Gabe Green/Sentinel
Michael Horswill joined four others to receive awards at the 16th annual Mayor’s Awards in the Arts event. The award is granted to community members who go above and beyond in their community, to not only create art, but aim to support and inspire others through art.
“He is well respected, and loved as a teacher and an artist,” said Fred Ogram, program emcee and a designer of the Cherry Hill Park 9/11 Memorial Playground.
Ogram, who has participated in community art programs for years, said the arts commission has been charged by the Coeur d’Alene City Council to stimulate and encourage the study, presentation and performance of fine arts throughout the city and surrounding areas, and in fostering public interest and participation.
A snapshot of Horswills artistic resumé shows his commitments to local art. He has been featured on Drawn to the Wall IV at the Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University, and was involved with a creative project with NIC students and local children to create the “Hands of Humanity,” a display of plaster casts representing the key points of the Bill of Rights.
Horswill is also extensively involved in volunteer and fundraising work for the arts. He has volunteered with Art on the Green, an annual art festival in Coeur d’Alene, since 1997. He has also been a part of “No Moose Left Behind,” an EXCEL Foundation fundraiser.
Horswill is originally from Bozeman Mont. He said he has been artistic since childhood, but did not identify himself as an artist until his mid 20s when he started drawing freelance illustrations for companies and organizations.
Horswill has been with NIC as an art instructor since 1998. He teaches 11 courses, including art history, drawing, survey of art, 2D and 3D design, watercolor and sculpture. He said that it’s rewarding to teach his passion to others. He said this is a part of what it means to be an artist.
“The really important thing that people need to understand is the connection between our cultural development, our scientific development and the arts,” Horswill said.
Other honorees included Roberta Larsen who won the Support of the Arts Award. Larsen is extensively involved in local non-profit programs and has been involved with the Citizens Council for the Arts in producing Art on the Green.
David Groth won the Arts in the Education Award. Groth has been in elementary education for 25 years and uses the art of juggling to inspire children to embrace the various arts at the Sorensen magnet school.
Mike and Kim Normand recieved the Mayor’s Special Recognition Award, for their involvement with the Shared Harvest community garden in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
