Dick Schuur from Assen has won a Golden K. This is a national prize awarded to people who have contributed to the visual arts in a particularly positive way. A maximum of ten Golden Ks are awarded annually.
The Golden K is an honorable distinction that is awarded annually to those who have made an exceptional contribution to the visual arts and/or visual artists. The winners receive a pin with the letter K for Art.
Dick Schuur heard last week that he had won the prize. “Look, I think prizes are all great. As long as they go to the organizations that do things,” says the brand new winner. “I did not set up CAMPIS and Kunst aan de Vaart alone, but together with many people. You can never do that on your own. You need people to help you with that.”
The first thing Schuur was going to do today: call the people involved. “I have to thank him.”
Dick Schuur is currently chairman of CAMPIS in Assen. CAMPIS is an artist collective with a platform for contemporary art. But not for much longer. He withdraws and Piet de Lange succeeds him. Schuur was also the founder, driving force and chairman of Kunst aan de Vaart. He stopped that in 2021.
But Schuur cannot sit still, because there are already plenty of ideas for after his chairmanship. “There are no concrete plans yet. But there are ideas that we want to discuss with the art institutions in Assen to see if that is feasible. We actually want to turn Assen into an art city, because art and culture do a lot for a city. And we also want to set up activities for that.”
To be eligible for the prize, the councilor responsible for art and culture nominates the artist from the municipality. The municipality of Assen chose Schuur because he has a big heart for art and culture. “He is a huge promoter of visual arts in Assen and through his efforts he has contributed to a city where art has been given a full place.”
His commitment to CAMPIS and Kunst aan de Vaart was also a reason for Schuur to register for the prize. “With a lot of energy and commitment, he was the connecting link between residents, artists, the municipality and of course the volunteers of Kunst aan de Vaart,” the municipality of Assen said.
Schuur thinks it is great that the municipality pays so much attention to visual arts. “Politics and councilor Bert-Jan ten Oever (City Party PLOP) support initiatives to show visual art to the residents of Assen. In addition to the Drents Museum, there is also an art stage in the city, where contemporary visual art can be seen And that the municipality supports that is great,” says Schuur.
Schuur is not the first Drent to win the prize. In 2019, Dick Lubbersen from Emmen won and a year earlier, Hannie Reijnierse also won from Emmen.