Before his death, Louis Sudler, a Chicago industrialist to whom the arts had been a major source of life satisfaction, endowed an annual prize in the arts at fourteen major universities: Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, MIT, University of Chicago, Michigan State, Oberlin College, Purdue University, Duke, Rice, and Stanford.
At each institution, an annual prize in the creative and performing arts is awarded to the graduating senior who has demonstrated the most distinguished record of excellence in performance or creation in one of the following areas: music, theater, painting, dance, design, film, creative writing, and other areas of the arts (as determined by each institution).
At Duke, the award is made by the Vice Provost for the Arts.
PRIZE DETAILS
Each year the Office of Vice Provost for the Arts awards a cash prize of $2,000 to the graduating senior selected as the outstanding student in the creative and performing arts. Students do not apply directly for the award but rather are nominated by arts program/department chairs, who are invited to forward one nomination each.
NOMINATION MATERIALS:
Applications are assembled and submitted by Duke arts programs/departments.
The centerpiece of the application is a letter of nomination from the head of the unit, which should be comprehensive and persuasive.
At least one (but no more than three) additional letter of recommendation from faculty members or others in the university community who can speak to the candidate’s qualifications and accomplishments.
A copy of the student’s most recent unofficial transcript.
A résumé composed by the student listing their activities in the arts at Duke, and any special projects or achievements off campus.
A statement of no more than 350 words composed by the student describing their artistic philosophy.
A digital portfolio of no more than 7 individual images of visual art, no more than 3 samples of writing (each more than 5 pages), or a video compilation no more than 6 minutes in length. The nominated student may assist with the creation of this portfolio. Links to full-length performances can be shared but review will focus on this curated portfolio.
Electronic/digital materials should be submitted in one of the following formats:
image: jpeg or pdf
text: ms word, rtf, or pdf
audio: mp3, acc, or ogg
video: quicktime (mov) or mpeg (mp4 or m4v)
The Vice Provost of the Arts cannot be responsible for any non-electronic materials of value that are submitted with the nomination.
DEADLINE
For the 2024-25 academic year, the nomination packet should be sent electronically to artsawards@duke.edu by 5pm on April 4, 2025. If file size precludes email attachment, please provide a link to a DukeBOX folder that is set to allow those with the link to view.
