To staunch the bleeding of creative talent to the coasts, we created the Keeper Awards. We asked the major players in the local arts scene to name the best emerging talent in any creative realm: dance, theater, visual arts, literature, whatever. Then we found the best of the best from that list and bribed them with sheet cake (seriously; see the video below), devoted precious magazine pages to singing their praises and soon will throw a party in their honor (January 22 at the Red Stag—you’re invited too).

We’ll even give them a trophy designed by Andréa Stanislav, a Keeper herself. (It's that golden, glittery beauty to the left.) If that’s not enough to keep these local talents local, we don’t know what is. (Money? It only taints the creative process.) Check out our Keepers (They're all those faces along the right side of this page).