COAI Life Time Achievement Award

The COAI Lifetime Achievement Award is established to honor members of Clowns Of America International who, during their membership, have given substantially of themselves while making sustained and creative contributions for the improvement of COAI and the art of clowning, particularly in the areas of COAI membership development, clown arts education, the preservation and propagation of the organization and the art of clowning.

The goal of granting a COAI Life Time Achievement Award is to highlight the tremendous work, accomplishments and achievements attained by COAI members working within the scope of COAI’s efforts, insure that they are more widely known by the membership, as well as the public at large and to help to publicize the results for the benefit of the organization and the art of clowning.

A COAI Life Time Achievement Award recipient will receive a commemorative plaque.

WHO MAY RECEIVE THE AWARD? To be eligible for this award, a candidate must be a member of COAI in good standing. All recipients must be alive at the time the selection committee's choice is announced.

HOW ARE RECIPIENTS CHOSEN? The Lifetime Achievement Award is a prestigious award of the COAI membership. It is an acknowledgement of superior contributions to COAI and achievement in the clown arts.

At the fall board meeting of each year, COAI’s president, with the approval of the board, will appoint a Lifetime Achievement Awards Committee consisting of five active COAI members from across COAI’s geographic regions. One committee member shall be a current member of the COAI executive board. The committee’s efforts will be overseen by and coordinated with the Director of Membership. The Director of Membership will serve as an ex-officio member of the committee in place of the COAI president, will exercise no influence over the decision making process of the committee, nor encourage outside parties or entities to do so. The committee considers nominations submitted by COAI’s membership at large, though they are not obliged to select an award recipient from among the current recommendations. The award will be presented at the annual COAI convention in the spring. If the committee can not agree on a suitable candidate, the award will not be presented.

MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS. Given that no one lives forever and opportunities to acknowledge life time achievement are finite, the committee may, at its discretion, bestow up to two Lifetime Achievement Awards in a single year, though only if they are in unanimous agreement on the nominees and the presentation of two awards is appropriate.

Eligibility Criteria

Nominations must be made on behalf of COAI members who are living at the time of the nomination.

Candidates must be members of COAI and in good standing.

Candidates should be active in the clown arts community.

There are no restrictions with regard to race, gender, nationality, geographic location, or religious or political views.

The Award will be presented to an individual COAI member.

COAI Alleys, clubs, troupes or other such organizations are not eligible for the Award.

All nomination materials must be submitted electronically to support committee operations.

Nominations must be received by The Director of Membership no later than November 1. Previous nominations will be maintained on file and considered without updating for a period not to exceed three years.

Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Nominations must consist of the following:

Letter of Nomination. Describe the nominee's sustained and noteworthy contributions to COAI and the clown arts community as a whole. COAI membership development, clown arts education, and the preservation and propagation of the organization and the art of clowning should each be specifically addressed.

Three letters of support. Letters of support must come from persons, other than the nominator, who are familiar with the nominee's qualifications and accomplishments.

Two 5 X 7 photos taken within six months of nomination submission. One photo should be of the candidate in their working clown make-up and costume. It should be a candid "action” photo, not a publicity type of photo. The other photo should be a head and shoulders pose with the nominee dressed in business casual attire. The nominee should be aware that other photos may be required once a final selection is made.

Bonnie Bon Bon Love

COAI Director Of Membership