Lifetime achievement awardee Jesse Hameen II ... ... C.R. & Co. dancers open the show. Artists and arts supporters from New Haven and beyond gathered Saturday night at the Canal Dock Boathouse for the 44th Annual Arts Awards presented by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. This year’s theme was ​“Coming Together,” and those who received awards epitomized that statement with achievements that focused on fostering community and offering uplifting and diverse opportunities and spaces for the arts. In the golden glow of the sun setting over Long Wharf, attendees arrived decked in sequins, sparkles, and an array of celebratory outfits. Photo ops abounded, from the gold-and-black decorated arch set up at the top of the stairs in the boathouse near the entrance to the party to the photo booth in the hallway between the two event rooms following the show. Each award recipient had a poster honoring them set up in the hallways. Some even had pieces of their work and previous awards received for attendees to peruse. This year’s awards recipients — Evelyn Massey, Zoe Jensen, Jamaican American Connection, Vivan Las Autonomas, and Our House Meriden — joined three Lifetime Achievement award recipients, Jesse Hameen II, Ruby Melton, and Maritza Rose. Before the awards were given out, a cocktail hour allowed awardees and attendees to enjoy music provided by DJ Ton the Don in the main room and flutist Aimee Toner in the reception area, where drinks and hors d’oeuvres were enjoyed along with laughter and conversation.After an hour of mingling and merriment, cohosts Ife Michelle Gardin and Frank E. Brady called to everyone to take their seats so they could get started. After a video of the Lotta Studio award recipients’ photo shoot by Travis Carbonella, five dancers from C.R. & Co. came to the stage for a resplendent modern dance routine that energized the crowd. Afterwards Gardin and Brady welcomed everyone and complimented their style and substance.“Look at the diversity of this room,” said Gardin. ​“You look beautiful.”“You look red carpet good,” said Brady, adding, ​“this is a party for purpose.”The first awardee to the stage was Evelyn Massey, curator and owner of Noir Vintage, who spoke about what an entrepreneur was. She said she was dedicating her award to her grandmother, who was the first entrepreneur in her family, making soul food dinners out of her house twice a month ​“for everybody.” She also shouted out her daughter ​“for always listening to me” and the City of New Haven and other organizations who have supported her. Gardin told the crowd to go to the vintage shop on Court Street and to ​“take your time looking around.”“You need to go,” she added emphatically.Before the next awardee came on stage, Brady asked the crowd if anyone was West Indian or Caribbean, receiving a round of claps and cheers. Jamaican-American Connection members Shanice Brackenridge and Craig Brandon accepted the award for their organization, whose mission is ​“to positively promote, educate and celebrate the rich Caribbean/West Indian American culture and the contributions we have made to our ​‘adoptive’ home.” “Community service is what drives us,” said Breckenridge, adding that seeing positive effects in the lives of people and families is the ​“most rewarding thing we do.” “Let’s continue to keep up the good work,” she said.Gardin added that the JAC was having its own gala on this night at the Omni, so there would be more celebrating there later on.Gardin then introduced the first lifetime achievement award recipient, renowned musician and teacher Jesse Hameen II, as a ​“fabulous musician” who was ​“New Haven homegrown,” knew so much about New Haven, and also went to grade school with her parents. A video played that had Hameen speaking about himself and his work. He noted that it was ​“not so much what I’ve done for New Haven but what New Haven has done for me.” He received a standing ovation as he came to the stage, where he reiterated that New Haven is ​“my town” no matter where he goes in the world. He told the crowd that he learned from his parents that you ​“have to help people … you have to be reciprocal,” and emphasized that he also learned from everyone. “Everyone who taught me, taught me to help others,” he said, and added that his philosophy was, in reference to the adage of carrying straws that could break one’s back, to ​“take a straw off someone’s back.”He reiterated the importance of reciprocity before another standing ovation, adding, ​“It’s we, not me.”Our House Meriden received the next award. Board secretary Paola Maina and teacher Maureen Harry accepted the award for the organization that is located in the childhood home of its founder, Catherine Del Buono. In its sixth year of providing free high-quality arts education to 4th through 6th graders, Maina noted that is important for them to offer the classes free of charge, including transportation.“We continue to fill an important void that not only benefits students involved, but families,” she said.Arts Council Executive Director Hope Chavez accepted the next award on behalf of Vivan Las Autonomas, a New Haven-based advocacy and arts organization committed to ​“addressing and disrupting patriarchal violence on a social, structural, and cultural level across the state of Connecticut.” Chavez informed the audience that members of the Vanessa Suarez-founded organization, who did ​“incredibly powerful work,” were not in attendance due to ​“taking care of one of their own” who had been in an accident the night before. She asked that everyone ​“send them your love” and gave information where they could donate to that member’s medical bills. Gardin also offered her own positive thoughts afterward, adding ​“let’s celebrate them saving lives.”The next lifetime achievement award went to Ruby Melton, who had her own short film shown, in which she said, ​“Art really does and should promote equity and social justice.” She came to the stage while the crowd offered her a standing ovation.Noting that her arts journey in the area began with her ​“life-altering and life-affirming” move to West Haven in 1978, she added: ​“You might say I came for the institutions and stayed for the community and the chance to be of service to it.”She emphasized that one of her ​“great joys” has been to watch a new generation ​“build community and reshape narratives,” but noted that there was still work to be done to build an ​“arts ecosystem where every voice is heard and where everyone feels they belong” — including creating ​“inclusive programming and combatting systematic oppression through the transformative power of art.”“The time is ripe to rise to the next level. Let’s keep dreaming, creating, and building together,” she said, before leaving the stage to another standing ovation.Zoe Jensen — DJ, writer, and co-editor of Connectic*nt zine — accepted her award with much joy, noting how she started the zine back in 2020 (“a great time to graduate,” she said with a laugh) because she missed her friends and ​“wanted to connect us.”“The connections we’ve made are beautiful,” she said, adding that some have met their life partners and gotten work from being involved in the zine and its events.“I don’t think that this zine and the joy it’s brought would exist in any other city,” she said. The final award of the evening was a third lifetime achievement award, this one going to Maritza Rose, who also received a rousing standing ovation after her video played. Her encouraging and inspiring words from her film, such as ​“don’t let anyone tell you you can’t. If they tell you you can’t, you say I can,” continued in her live and lively speech. As she expressed her gratitude and spoke of her 40 years proudly serving her community (with shouts of ​“I love you” coming from the audience), she spoke of the ​“collective effort” that helped her succeed. “It’s not me, it’s us,” she said, echoing Hameen. ​“We need more art, culture, and music in our schools, not to create more artists, but to cultivate better human beings.”“Never surrender to any circumstances. Choose to rise and fight. Nothing is truly over until you decide it is.”She left the stage to some of the loudest cheers of the night and another standing ovation (she also left this reporter with tears in her eyes).After Chavez came back on stage to offer a bouquet to Winter Marshall, in celebration of her 25th anniversary with the Arts Council and to encourage attendees to donate in her honor, the after party began. Pizzas and drinks were plenty, as were the people moving to the music and making connections, congratulating the recipients one on one and celebrating their achievements. Merchandise was also available, including a bag with the attendees’ names on them in a popular style, and live art was being created by Jorden Gage. Outside the windows, the water off the wharf sparkled under the moonlight, as if it knew it was part of the community, too. Maritza Rosa's poster and awards. Massey's award. Zoe Jensen with her mother Tapleigh Jensen and her poster. Evelyn Massey's poster and photos from her vintage store.