Inaugurated in 1994, the Alpert Award in the Arts provides annual fellowships of $50,000 to five artists, one each, in the fields of dance, film/video, music, theatre and the visual arts. Administered by California Institute of the Arts and funded by the Herb Alpert Foundation, the Awards support individuals working and living in the United States who have demonstrated exceptional talent and commitment to their craft, are generating an important body of work, and are likely to be recognized, within their discipline, as artists shaping a vital voice, vision or language. The Award honors artists whose work might be thought of as "early mid-career" rather than well-established practitioners or those beginning their creative lives. In addition, it recognizes those artists particularly responsive to the complex, challenging and fertile role of the artist in society. The Awards were established to support the gifts of supremely dedicated and talented artists, to permit them more time and freedom to go further and deeper into their art, to take more risks. The Award may be viewed as part of a larger reciprocal cultural cycle, a gift for those attending to and giving their gifts. The Awards for 2003-2004 will be announced in Spring 2004.