APCC Board Member Latha Sambamurti has been awarded the 2023 Washington Humanities Award, the highest award for public humanities in Washington state, given annually by Humanities Washington.
The award recognizes her for her advocacy and leadership in support of humanities, arts and culture. Ms. Sambamurti received the award at an annual event called Bedtime Stories, hosted by Humanities Washington in Seattle on September 29, 2023.
For over two decades, Ms. Sambamurti has been contributing in multiple roles including Arts and cultural Commissioner, co-founder and director of festivals, heritage and language teacher to children and youth, grant panelist, fusion music band founder & lead singer, community leader, arts advocate and public speaker. The varied areas of her work include living cultural traditions, traditional arts, and folklife of India and other diverse cultures constituting the demography of Washington state.
Latha co-founded the large-scale festivals organized by Northwest Share (www.nwshare.org) of Seattle, namely, Festival of Color (Redmond), Diwali: Lights of India (Seattle), Veg Fest (Redmond) and Festival of Compassion (Seattle). As well, she co-produced and directed the much-acclaimed One World One Seattle festival, held at Westlake Park in Seattle in June 2023. She also co-founded Redmond’s popular Ananda Mela: Joyful Festival of India in 2010, and Bellevue’s Flavors of India in 2012, which are both organized by the Vedic Cultural Center of Sammamish, WA. She continues to direct artistic, outreach, and development activities for these festivals.
Ms. Sambamurti has been a Washington State Arts Commissioner and a Redmond Arts and Culture Commissioner. She won the Kirkland Performance Center’s You Rock award for community service and several other awards for service to the community through arts and culture. She serves as a board director for several state and regional arts and cultural organizations. She holds a master’s degree in English Literature and has carried out research on translations of Shakespeare into India’s languages.
Congratulations, Latha, on receiving this well-deserved prestigious award! Your APCC family is filled with pride for you.
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