Jun Kaneko

Jun Kaneko is a Japanese-born American artist who began his career as a painter, becoming a sculptor when he arrived in the United States over thirty-five years ago. Kaneko is known for his monumental scale in both individual and public art commissions. His unmistakable style bridges the Eastern sense of pattern and color and combines it with a Western sensibility. Kaneko’s work has strong respect for tradition and technique but is ground breaking in its fearless approach to concept and installation.

His works are included in such museums as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, the American Crafts Museum in New York and Nagoya, Japan. In March 2006, Kaneko won critical praise for his set and costume designs for the Opera Omaha’s production of Madama Butterfly. A new undertaking for Kaneko is KANEKO, a non-profit institute in Omaha, Nebraska that will provide a public forum for research and exploration of creativity in the arts, sciences, and philosophy.

Edgar Heap of Birds

Edgar Heap of Birds is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work ranges from conceptual public art messages to paintings, prints, and monumental sculpture. Heap of Birds was one of a small group of artists whose work in the 1980s in the New York art scene defined the pluralistic and sophisticated direction of Native art.

Currently an associate art professor at the University of Oklahoma, Heap of Birds' practice is distinguished by his sophisticated analysis of language and his appropriation of public spaces such as billboards and city bus panels to disrupt the onslaught of Eurocentric discourse. Heap of Birds received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, his BFA from the University of Kansas, and has undertaken graduate studies at the Royal College of Art, London.

Distinguished Educators of the Year

Mary Flannery and Kit Jenkins, co-founders of Raw Art in Lynn, MA

Raw Art is a nonprofit youth arts organization that provides innovative ways for young people to engage in art-making that transforms their lives. Through untraditional art concepts, RAW gives children and teens the opportunity to express "what's really goin' on" in their lives. After kids render their emotions and experiences in color, it's often easier to put what they're feeling into words.

Mary Flannery is the founder and Artistic Director for Raw Art. After eight years of working with mentally ill adults at Danvers State Hospital, Flannery came to understand the importance of art for those who are struggling to be seen and heard. Having seen the power of creating and exhibiting artwork that allowed an extremely marginalized group of people to tell their own stories, Mary decided to focus on adolescents and founded Raw Art Works in 1988. For the past fifteen years, Mary has been a consistent mentor and guide to hundreds of teens, welcoming them to RAW in their first weeks of high school, celebrating with them at their graduations, and helping them find their place in the world beyond.

Kit Jenkins is the Executive Director of Raw. Kit has over twenty years of experience working with teens and children as an art therapist, and has a background in photography, dance, and drama.  She is in her eighteenth year on the faculty of Lesley University, and teaches in Cambridge and across the country. Along with Mary Flannery, Kit recently completed the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s "Achieving Excellence" program, an executive leadership program offered through Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government for high-performing nonprofit cultural organizations in Massachusetts.