Each year, the Independent solicits nominations for our Arts Indies, and this time out we received several dozen, making for a long and spirited debate among our staff.

Reviewing the names of honorees over the past 18 years, one gets a sense of an accumulating body of cultural capital in the Triangle. There are many past winners who remain bulwarks of the arts in our community, but we never seem to run out of fresh faces to recognize—indeed, this year we honor two people whose contributions to the area are relatively recent, but we also recognize one group that is older than the Independent itself.

All of our honorees devote a significant portion of their energies—and their mission—to bringing the arts to our community. The Triangle is fortunate to have such a vibrant cultural life, and in this issue, we recognize the extraordinary efforts that make that vitality possible.