Arizona Highways magazine, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, received 22 awards for excellence in visuals, writing, and production at the annual conference of regional magazines from across North America.
The recognition comes from the International Regional Media Association, a nonprofit organization whose panel of magazine industry experts judges an annual awards competition. Arizona Highways earned five first-place Gold Awards. Among them was Magazine Photographer of the Year for Joel Hazelton.
Other Gold Award winners included Annette McGivney for Public Issues with “Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni” (October 2024), Tom Zoellner for Travel Feature with “Beyond Words” (January 2024), Ruth Rudner for Art & Culture Feature with “I Am Not a Visitor” (January 2024), and Kelly Vaughn for Profiles with “A River Runs Through Him” (June 2024).
The magazine also won Silver Awards such as Website of the Year for arizonahighways.com, Nature & Environment Feature by Kathy Montgomery (“To the Bat Cave,” January 2024), Historic Feature by Kathy Montgomery (“On This Day in Rock History,” April 2024), Photo Series (“Midsummer Nights,” July 2024), and Print Calendar (Classic Calendar 2024).
Bronze Awards were given in categories including Art Direction Single Story to Keith Whitney and Lisa Altomare (“The Old Stomping Grounds,” September 2024), General Feature to Tom Zoellner (“The Great Bend of the Gila,” July 2024), Headline and Dek to Robert Stieve (“On This Day in Rock History,” April 2024), Magazine Writer of the Year to Tom Zoellner, Single Photo to Sean Parker (“Aurora Borealis,” August 2024), Portrait Photo to David Zickl (“Sandra Day O’Connor,” February 2024), Department: The Journal, Special Focus: April 2024 (Chiricahua Issue), Cover: September 2024, and Podcast: Arizona Highways Podcast With Steve Goldstein and Robert Stieve.
Arizona Highways was also named a finalist for Magazine of the Year in its circulation category. Additionally, it received Merit recognition for Overall Art Direction by Keith Whitney and Lisa Altomare.
Founded in 1925, Arizona Highways aims to promote travel within Arizona. The publication is known for landscape photography and also produces guide books, calendars, and other materials related to travel in Arizona. Its subscriber base includes all U.S. states as well as more than one hundred countries worldwide.
More information about Arizona Highways can be found at https://www.arizonahighways.com/ or about the International Regional Media Association at https://www.irmamagazines.com/.
