Columbia Faculty Member and Alum to be Honored at 2021 Public Humanities Awards

Image courtesy of Illinois Humanities Image courtesy of Illinois Humanities
Photography Faculty Member Dawoud Bey and Alum Tonika Lewis Johnson to receive awards

Columbia Photography faculty member Dawoud Bey and Print Journalism and Photography alum Tonika Lewis Johnson ’03 have been named as recipients of this year’s Public Humanities Awards.

Illinois Humanities will announce its 2021 Public Humanities Awards recipients at its online Live Stream Extravaganza at 12 p.m. on Thursday, May 20, 2021. Registration for the event is free of charge for guests.

Bey, who serves as a Photography Professor at Columbia, will receive the Beacon Award for his accomplishments as a photographer, humanist, and educator. His video and photography work have appeared in various museums and galleries throughout the country and Europe. He is a 2017 MacArthur Fellow. The Beacon Award honors individuals or organizations who have championed or invested in the humanities in Illinois.

Johnson—a photographer, award-winning social justice artist, and cofounder of two community-based organizations, Englewood Arts Collective and Resident Association of Greater Englewood—will receive a Public Humanities Award. The Illinois Humanities Public Humanities Award celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to the civic and cultural life of the state through the humanities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Daisy Franco
Communications Manager
dfranco@colum.edu