The image of a starving artist toiling alone in a garret is ingrained into our American schema of the visual arts, but the Spirit Awards shatter the idea that artists are hermits and that art-making and art appreciation are solitary, exclusive pursuits. This September, the Spirit Awards Benefit to support Maud Morgan Arts honors two Cambridge artists—painter and activist Lori Lander and sculptor and public artist Mitch Ryerson—to celebrate the ways that the visual arts bring people together. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Art at the Heart Scholarship Fund, created in honor of Lander and Ryerson.

“Black Corner” screenprint by Maud Morgan

At the Spirit Awards, jazz drifts through the air while guests sip wine from handcrafted ceramic cups and sample savory Indonesian appetizers as they immerse themselves in the evening’s artwork. Platters painted by noted Boston-area artists for the silent auction gleam from the arts center’s open doors, drawing guests inside for a closer look. Upstairs in the print studio, etched plates roll through the printing press, and prints of Mitch Ryerson’s early ideas for outdoor play structures, delineated in soft grays, gently emerge ready for guests to take home.

Two limited-edition scarves available at the event literally envelop guests in artwork. The dramatic purple, green and black shapes from Maud Morgan’s 1976 screenprint “Black Corner” flow across one scarf, and the other scarf is a reproduction of Lori Lander’s painting of women in rice fields, “Rice Harvest V.” Guests can also attend two gallery openings: Lander’s “Rhythms and Rituals: The Work of Women” and Ryerson’s “With the Grain.” The evening culminates as guests gather under the tent for the awards ceremony when Lander and Ryerson will each receive a Spirit Award.

“Rice Harvest V” by Lori Lander

However, the Spirit Awards is more than one memorable evening. People who come to the event are ensuring a future for a human tradition as old as cave painting. Through the Art at the Heart Scholarship Fund, more young people can fall in love with clay and acrylics, paper and ink, or yarn and wood. More adults who haven’t used a paintbrush since childhood can find the courage to start a watercolor . . . and then start another one, and the visual arts can empower more elders to share their truths, their humor and their visions from a lifetime of experiences.

The Spirit Awards celebrate art at the heart of community because at Maud Morgan Arts, the connection between creativity and community happens every day.

The Spirit Awards honoring Lori Lander and Mitch Ryerson will be held on Sunday, September 21, from 7-9 pm. For a preview of Spirit Awards artwork, visit: shop.maudmorgan.com