Inaugurated in 1994, the Alpert Award in the Arts provides unrestricted annual prizes to five engaged, independent artists working the fields of dance, film/video, music, theatre and the visual arts.

Initiated and funded by The Herb Alpert Foundation and administered by California Institute of the Arts, the Award rewards experimenters who are challenging and transforming art and society.

The Alpert Award honors and supports artists respected for their creativity, ingenuity and powerful bodies of work at a moment in their lives when they are poised to propel their art in new and unpredictable directions.