The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University is seeking public nominations for the 2016 Upper Peninsula Folklife Award. The award recognizes those who make a difference in the creation and/or preservation of Upper Peninsula folk arts, including music, dance, storytelling, crafts and food. Persons or organizations can be nominated. The deadline is Thursday, April 7.

The award will be presented at a benefit dinner May 10. Past recipients are John Perona, bones player; Les Ross Les Ross Sr., harmonica player; Oren Tikkanen, storyteller and musician; Fred Rydholm, storyteller and historian; Bette and Dean Premo, musicians; Michael Loukinen, folklorist; and Corrine Rockow, musician and educator.  

For information on submitting a nomination, visit www.nmu.edu/beaumier and click on the “Events” tab. 

A selection committee will review nominations from the general public and make the final decisions on the 2016 award. Committee members include Dave Bezotte, a retired librarian from Houghton; Diane Darlington, a Beaumier Center advisory board member from Negaunee; Rosemary Michelin, fabric artist and archivist at the Marquette Regional History Center; Bette Premo, White Water Associates owner and musician from Amasa; Hilary Virtanen, folklore scholar at Finlandia University; and Phil Watts, NMU professor and folk musician.