PASEO ARTS AWARDS
Each year the Paseo Arts Association honors artists and art supporters who have made a strong contribution to the arts in our state at the Paseo Arts Awards Dinner & Silent Auction. The PAA’s Annual Arts Awards were created to recognize and honor those individuals who have contributed to the artistic creativity and well-being of our state. By recognizing artists through these awards we hope to strengthen the Oklahoma art community. We wish to thank all the artists, patrons, supporters, teachers, authors, collectors, and overall appreciators of the arts.
The awards dinner, ceremony and silent auction also serves as a fundraiser for the Paseo Arts Association, helping to support arts events and programs year-round, such as First Friday events, kickstarters for artists such as Paseo FEAST, the Paseo Arts Festival in May and so much more!
2025 AWARDEES
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
This award honors a person who has spent his/her life contributing to the enhancement of the arts in Oklahoma either as an artist, supporter, arts educator or arts administrator.
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Holt holds a BFA in Ballet Performance and an MFA in drama. In her teens, she received Ford Foundation grants, allowing her to study at both the San Francisco and New York City Ballets. She has appeared in over 50 ballets, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Cinderella. She’s exhibited her choreography to composers including Mozart, Porter and The Beatles, across the world, including in the United Kingdom, Taiwan and China. Formerly serving as the director of the OU School of Dance for 20 years, Holt also worked on the OAI Board of Directors, OAI Dance Panel and the Norman Arts Council. Holt received the CORPS de Ballet International Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and got inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2022.
PUBLIC ART AWARD:
Recognizes an individual/organization who has contributed to the cultural fabric of the city with innovative and creative artistic contributions and/or exemplary commitment and leadership in the field of public art.
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Schor has been a maker since childhood, first studying sculpture at the University of Central Oklahoma before switching to graphic design, where he discovered the intersection of art and function. He exhibited with the Individual Artists of Oklahoma (IAO) and the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) and assisted artist Randy Marks in creating handmade paper lamps before moving to New York City. In NYC, he worked with a design team distributing Murano glass lighting while immersing himself in galleries and museums that deepened his understanding of art and design. Returning to Oklahoma, he expanded his skills through carpentry, which enabled him to create and install more complex works. Now a full-time artist and fabricator, Schor received his first public art commission in 2009 for Downtown OKC, LLC, and has since completed more than 50 public and private commissions.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD:
This award recognizes an emerging or established artist who has distinguished themselves and their profession during the past year.
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A native of Lawton, Oklahoma, some of Reed’s earliest memories revolve around his time drawing on his grandmother’s sun porch with his uncles. After living in New Jersey, Texas and Hawaii due to his father’s military service, Reed returned to Lawton to graduate high school before graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA in Studio Art. Directly after graduation, Reed worked as an assistant on the Oklahoma Land Run Monument for six years before teaching middle and high school art in Oklahoma City and Jones public schools. While teaching, Reed built his portfolio and entered exhibits from New York to California. In 2025, Reed unveiled his monuments of territorial mayor C.G. Jones at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds and of singer Gayla Peevey for the Oklahoma City Zoo.
CREATIVE PLACEMAKING AWARD:
Honors a person/group who has made substantial contributions to strengthening creative communities, making the role of art essential in enhancing local character for positive economic development and community outcomes.
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Curbside Enterprises, a family of social enterprises in Oklahoma City, continuously builds community and creates opportunity through supportive employment. Beginning in 2013 as a street paper aimed at empowering people transitioning out of homelessness, the organization now boasts a robust network of mission-driven businesses, including Curbside Flowers, Curbside Apparel and Sasquatch Shaved Ice. In 2024 alone, Curbside helped 206 people gain and/or maintain employment and created over 73,000 hours of supportive employment while participants generated over $1 million in income. By working with dozens of local artists each year through multiple programs (including in The Curbside Chronicle, Wrap Up Homelessness wrapping paper, and original apparel) Curbside weaves creativity into Oklahoma City.
MICHI SUSAN AWARD:
Michi Susan was an admired and accomplished mixed media Oklahoma artist who was recognized nationally and internationally. She mentored and encouraged other artists support to arts organizations. The Michi Susan Award will recognize artists who live in her same spirit and work to mentor and encourage Oklahoma visual artists.
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A fifth-generation Oklahoman, Husky has worked as a fiber artist for 50 years. An alum of the University of Oklahoma, where she obtained her master’s degree in liberal studies with an emphasis on art education, therapy and history, Husky taught art for over 20 years throughout the state. Focusing on a vast array of mediums, including weaving, dyeing, bookmaking, paper making, 3-D design and felting, Husky’s teachings have helped and influenced countless artists. Husky has exhibited across the nation, including the BASF National Exhibit in Atlanta, National Intermountain Weaver’s Conference in Colorado Springs and the 108 Contemporary State of Craft, as well as throughout Oklahoma with public exhibitions at various venues such as the Broken Arrow Medical Center, University of Central Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State Art Collection.
EMERGING ARTIST AWARD:
This award recognizes an artist that has emerged onto the Oklahoma art scene within the past few years and has contributed to the diversity and growth of art and culture in Oklahoma.
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Long has changed the Oklahoma City art scene in just a few years. Multiple organizations, including the Myriad Botanical Gardens, Oklahoma City Zoo and KOCO 5, have featured his macro, landscape and nature photography. Dedicated to finding beauty in nature and inanimate objects, Long's passion lies in capturing aesthetics invisible to the human eye by making the imperceptible seem grandiose. Selected by the 2026 Allied Arts Workplace Giving Campaign as a Step-Up Artist, Long's work will be used to raise funds in an effort to expand both access and opportunities in the arts for millions of Oklahomans. With goals of reaching a worldwide audience, Long's exciting journey has only just begun.
