North Carolina Heritage Awards

North Carolina Heritage Awards Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored our state’s most eminent traditional artists and practitioners. Recipients of the Heritage Awards range from internationally acclaimed musicians to folks who quietly practice their art in family and community settings. Honorees receive a cash award and are celebrated in a ceremony that draws large and enthusiastic audiences. Several North Carolinians have gone on to receive the National Heritage Fellowship presented by the National Endowment for the Arts.These awards deepen our awareness of North Carolina’s diverse cultural traditions, and their importance to our state’s past, present and future.Heritage Award recipients are nominated by citizens of the state and selected through panel process.Explore video tributes to these artists for their individual artistic accomplishments and for representing the cultural treasures found in our communities small and large, rural and urban. Learn more about past Heritage Awards Honorees List of past Heritage Awards Honorees Watch the video profiles of past Heritage Awards Honorees Listen to the Arts Across NC podcasts with 2023 Heritage Honorees Nomination guidelines for the Heritage Awards View Embed Heritage Award Recipients Meet the recipients of the 2025 North Carolina Heritage Awards Thursday, January 09, 2025 Chester McMillian, Herman and Loretta Oxendine, Gaurang Doshi , Helen Gibson, and The Glorifying Vines Sisters 2025 North Carolina Heritage Awards Thursday, November 07, 2024 2023 North Carolina Heritage Award Recipients Monday, October 17, 2022 Cornelio Campos, Rhonda Gouge, Neal Thomas, Richard Bowman, Butch and Louise Goings Remembering H Ju Nie, North Carolina Weaver Friday, February 11, 2022