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Bright Lights

Celebrating Louisiana Luminaries

2024 Bright Lights Awards Dinner
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Awards dinner: 7–9 p.m.
Patron Party: 6–7 p.m.
Capitol Park Museum, Baton Rouge
Purchase individual tickets or tables or Become a sponsor 

Every spring, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities celebrates the brightest lights in Louisiana humanities at the Bright Lights Awards Dinner. The annual event recognizes the recipients of the LEH’s Humanities Awards, honoring individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the study and understanding of the humanities.

The LEH and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser will host the 2024 Bright Lights Awards Dinner, presented by Entergy, on Tuesday, April 23, at the Capitol Park Museum, 660 N. Fourth Street in downtown Baton Rouge. Cellist Helen Gillet will provide musical accompaniment during the patron party, which will take place prior to the awards dinner.

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The evening features a silent auction with items like art, unforgettable travel opportunities, festival passes, and more goods that reflect the diversity and richness of Louisiana.

The 2024 Humanities Awards

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is pleased to announce that Richard “Dickie” Landry (left)—saxophonist, composer, photographer, and painter—has been named 2024 Humanist of the Year. In addition, the 2024 awardees include:

  • Champion of Culture: Nick Mueller
  • Chair’s Award for Institutional Support: Charles Lamar Family Foundation
  • Documentary Photographer of the Year: Ben Depp
  • Humanities Book of the YearThe Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South by Elizabeth Ellis
  • Humanities Documentary Film of the YearThe Precipice directed by Ben Johnson and produced by Linda Midgett
  • Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities: Freddi Williams Evans
  • Museum Exhibition of the Year: The Louisiana State Museum at the Cabildo’s Creole New Orleans, Honey!
  • Light Up for Literacy: Jane Wolfe

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THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 SPONSORS!

 

Event History

Since 1985, the LEH has honored leading humanities scholars, authors, poets, literacy advocates, photographers, humanities patrons, and documentary filmmakers in Louisiana through the Humanities Awards.

The annual Bright Lights Awards Gala brings together local officials, community leaders, and humanities advocates alike to celebrate the year’s awardees and all that the humanities can achieve.

See the full list of Humanities Awards winners from 1985 to now here.

Want to stay updated on the latest involving the Bright Lights Awards Dinner and the Humanities Awards? Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter here.

Humanist of the Year Zachary Richard at the 2016 Bright Lights Awards Gala
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LEH Executive Director/President Miranda Restovic at the 2023 Bright Lights Awards Dinner
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2014 Humanist of the Year Walter Isaacson (left) and 2018 Humanist of the Year Leah Chase (right)
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2023 Humanist of the Year Chef John Folse (left) being presented with his award by Entergy's Roderick K. West (right)
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