Honey Bell-Bey, the Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County, yesterday received a 2024 Public Leadership in the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts. The honor was presented at the winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors in Washington, DC.
Bell-Bey, a Cleveland resident, received the National Citizen Artist Award. In announcing the award, Nolen V. Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, said that “Honey Bell-Bey's remarkable and transformative poetry work in the realm of social justice within the community deserves special recognition and admiration.”
In her acceptance, Bell-Bey acknowledged the power of art and voice:
"Art transforms lives! May it be said that I used the power of artistic voice to create, cultivate, captivate, inspire, and impact social change. If I cannot do those transformative things with voice, may I remain silent the remainder of my days."
Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb, in DC for the mayors meeting, was on hand for the presentation. When asked to comment on the signal honor, Bibb told The Real Deal Press via text that “Poet Honey Bell-Bey has enriched Cleveland in countless ways." The mayor said he was honored to share the stage with Bell-Bey as she received the award to a standing ovation at the US Mayors Conference. “She is a treasured member of our literature arts and culture community in Cleveland — so happy to see her shine!”
The proclamation accompanying the award to Bell-Bey cited her work as motivational poet, writer, educator, and community advocate. The citation noted “Honey Bell-Bey is an Ohio Certified Substance Abuse Professional who utilizes performance and visual arts to impact, women, youth and families. Her platform, P.O.E.T (Power Over Emotional Trauma), gives voice and transformative power to communities, often marginalization by high risk factors. In 2020 she was awarded the National Poet Laureate Fellowship by the Academy of American Poets. She has performed, directed, and choreographed Spoken Word performances internationally and received numerous awards and accommodations for her service and activism utilizing poetry to unite communities around issues in social justice and equity. She is the founder and director for The International Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word, a character-based performance troupe for adolescent males who perform on topics of disparities and social injustices.
“She was appointed Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County in January 2020. In 2022, the city of East Cleveland renamed a street (Honey Bell-Bey way), in honor of her more than 25 years of dedicated service to arts, and community.”
Honey Bell-Bey is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Health at Case Western Reserve University. She is a trainer for the Ohio Coaching and Mentoring Network.
Three other public leadership in the arts awards were presented at the conference, all to public officials: Colorado Governor Jared Polis, St. Louis mayor Tishaura O. Jones, and Thomas Roach, mayor of White Plains, NY.
Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit advocacy organization that works to advance the arts and arts education advocacy in America. It has collaborated with The United States Conference of Mayors since 1997 to present these leadership awards. Previous winners include John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kerry Washington, Gloria Estefan, The Actors Fund and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. A full list of previous award winners may be found here.
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