The Casa Lis Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum has been recognized with the Castilla y León Prize for the Arts 2023. The jury unanimously agreed to award this award for its “iconic defense” of a plot of the cultural heritage of the Community of Castilla and León, “as relevant and little recognized” as the decorative arts.

The jury also values the Museum’s decisive involvement in the cultural life of the city of Salamanca and the entire Community, as well as its “attractiveness” to the general public, as demonstrated by its almost 160,000 visitors in 2023. In addition, it considered that both The “continent” of Casa Lis itself and its “rich” museum content that it offers constitute a proposal that, as a whole, could be defined as a true tribute to aesthetics.

The jury in this edition was made up of Luis Moro, visual artist, winner of the Castilla y León Arts Prize 2022; Alejandro Nicolás Sarmiento Carrión, general director of the Fórum Evolución Burgos-Promueve Conference Center and Auditorium; José Enrique Martín Lozano, general secretary of the Las Ages of Man Foundation (entity that won this same award in 1992); Carlos Aganzo, writer and journalist; Marta Herrero de la Fuente, professor of Paleography and Diplomatics at the University of Valladolid, and Jesús Ignacio Sanz Valdivieso, who served as secretary.

The Castilla y León Arts Award aims to distinguish those people or entities that, with their creation in the plastic arts, music, or cinematography, or their work in the protection or conservation of the cultural heritage of the Community, have contributed significantly in a prominent way to the enrichment, defense and enhancement of the artistic and cultural heritage of Castilla y León.

The winners, each year, so far are: 1984, Juan Manuel Díaz Caneja; 1985, Baltasar Lobo and Antonio Baciero; 1986, Cristóbal Halffter; 1987, José Vela Zanetti; 1988, Antonio Fernández Alba; 1989, Francisco Regueiro; 1990, Luis Sáez; 1991, José Núñez Larraz; 1992, The Ages of Man; 1993, Benedictine Community of Santo Domingo de Silos; 1994, Claudio Prieto; 1995, José Sánchez-Carralero; 1996, Antonio Giménez-Rico; 1997, Esteban Vicente; 1998, Modesto Ciruelos; 1999, Frechilla Zuloaga Duo; 2000, Cristóbal Gabarrón; 2001, Venancio Blanco; 2002, José María García ‘Castilviejo’; 2003, Ana Jiménez López; 2004, Fernando Urdiales; 2005, Amancio Prada; 2006, José María Mezquita Gullón; 2007, José María González Cuasante; 2008, Ángel Mateos Bernal; 2009, Santiago Martín Sánchez ‘El Viti’; 2010, Enrique Seco San Esteban; 2011, Alberto Bañuelos Fournier; 2012, Jesús López Cobos; 2013, Concha Velasco and Lola Herrera; 2014, Amaya Arzuaga Navarro; 2015, Águeda de la Pisa Prieto de la Cal; 2016, Valladolid International Film Week (SEMINCI); 2018, the National Museum of Sculpture; 2020, José Luis Alonso Coomonte; 2021, Casa Botines Gaudí Museum, and 2022, Luis Moro.

In the period between 2001 and 2014, the Castilla y León Prize for the Restoration and Conservation of Heritage was awarded, the purpose of which was subsumed in the Arts Prize as of 2015. The winners in this defunct category were: 2001, Luis del Elm; 2002, Sebastian Battaner Arias; 2003, Carlos Elorza Guinea; 2004, Santa María la Real Foundation; 2005, Carlos Muñoz de Pablos; 2006, José Javier Rivera Blanco; 2007, Miguel Manzano Alonso; 2008, Contemporary Art Collection Association; 2009, Concepción Casado Lobato; 2010, Eloísa García de Wattenberg; 2011, Enrique Baquedano Pérez; 2012, Germán Delibes de Castro; 2013, Ángel Sancho Campo, and 2014, Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta.

The Castilla y León Awards, held annually since 1984, have the purpose of recognizing the work of those people, groups or entities that contribute to the exaltation of the values of the Castilian and Leonese Community, or that, carried out by Castilian and Leonese, within or outside the territorial scope of the Community, represents an outstanding contribution to universal knowledge. These Awards have six other modalities in addition to the Arts Award: Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation; Of letters; of the Social Sciences and Humanities; of sport; of Human and Social Values; and Bullfighting.

To know more about Casa Lis, Museo Art Nouveau y Art Déco from Salamanca, click HERE.