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ABOUT THE AWARD
Created in 2009, the Krider Prize for Creativity honors exceptional creativity wherever it may be found. Recognizing that designers draw their inspiration and influences from a broad range of fields and experiences, the Krider Prize provides access for UCDA members to a variety of creative people and organizations. The Prize encourages participation from local to global arenas and provides wider public recognition of UCDA and its members.

Award Amount
A minimum of $1,000 to be given to the recipient (plus travel expenses up to $500).

Eligibility

• The recipient can be any person, group of people, or organization anywhere on the planet (or beyond) deemed to be creative;
• Recipient must be available to attend the conference to receive the award;
• Recipient will in return give UCDA a presentation, seminar, work of art or other object or performance appropriate to the awardees field of endeavor, at the annual UCDA Design Conference (subject to approval);
• Current officers or board members of UCDA or UCDA Foundation are not eligible.

Deadline for Nominations: JUNE 30, 2024

Any member, member organization, emeritus or honorary member may nominate.

ONLINE NOMINATION FORM

To honor John Krider and make a donation to the Krider Prize for Creativity fund, please contact the UCDA Foundation at 615-459-4559 or donate online.

JOHN ALDEN KRIDER (1943-1996)
John was born in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of Alden and Peggy Krider, both of whom were architects. Both had been involved in a wide range of artistic pursuits in their lifetimes, including work for the WPA, their own marionnette troupe and developing a collection of architectural photographs that was dedicated in 1999 as the Krider Visual Resource and Learning Center at Kansas State University, where Alden was professor emeritus. The environment in which John grew up was one that drew no boundaries between artistic pursuits. John was a writer, designer, painter and politically engaged, as both activist and provocateur.

John joined UCDA in the early years, as did many of his fellow Kansans, when he was creative director at Kansas State University in “tiny town” Manhattan, Kansas. He served UCDA as secretary/editor in 1979, as president in 1981 and 1982, and on the board of directors through 1987. Creative, exuberant, joyful, and wry, John had an astounding vocabulary that enabled him to describe perfectly, with humor and insight, the myriad social and professional situations in which he, and we all, found ourselves in those years. He was relied upon for incisive decision-making and astute observation. He was our parliamentarian extraordinaire, yet he abhorred any bureaucratic or labyrinthian structures. At UCDA’s 20th anniversary in Nashville, John penned the phrase “Freedom Defined is Freedom Denied” and thus UCDA became the first national education organization to petition congress to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. After KSU he worked for Washington University, and then Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center Fund. Between Manhattan, KS and Manhattan, NY, there were many changes in John’s life and more to come. He moved to Key West for several years and then returned to Kansas where he died in 1996 of complications from AIDS.
 
PAST RECIPIENTS

2022—Dr. Chip Thomas, aka jetsonorama, is a photographer, public artist, and physician

2021—Jamal Collins, designer, mentor, educator, consultant—Creative Kids Group

2020—Fabian William, co-founder of BLOOM

2019—Gabriel “Gabi” Campanario

2018—Tegu Toys

2017—Samantha Robison, founder and executive director, aptART

2016—Jim Bachor, mosaic artist

2015—Ben Harrison, founder, CEO, and lead designer for Jonas Paul Eyewear

2014—Jim Sherraden, master printer, curator, and chief designer at Hatch Show Print

2013—Drew Cameron, co-founder, Combat Paper, and David Keefe, director, Combat Paper New Jersey

2012—Jeannot Painchaud of Cirque Éloize

2011—Lois Ellen Frank of Red Mesa Cuisine

2010—R&F Handmade Paints