COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Greater Columbus Arts Council is pleased to announce the three individual winners of the 2011 Community Arts Partnership Awards presented by PNC in the categories of Arts Educator, Arts Partner and Emerging Arts Leader. The winners will be honored at GCAC’s annual Community Arts Partnership awards program luncheon on Thursday, October 20 from noon-1 p.m. at COSI, 333 W. Broad St. The community is invited to join GCAC and 400 business, arts and civic leaders to celebrate this year’s nominees and winners and the work they do every day to create a thriving and vibrant creative community in Columbus. To register to attend, go to www.gcac.org/community-arts-partnership/. Registration will close on October 7.
GCAC’s annual Community Arts Partnership Awards honor Columbus individuals for their exemplary support and leadership in the arts and the Columbus business community for its active support of central Ohio’s arts organizations. Forty businesses and individuals were nominated this year. Business honorees in the Small, Medium and Large categories will be announced at the event on October 20. Individual award winners are:
Java Kitrick, Director of the Puffin Foundation West, will receive the award for Arts Partner. Kitrick’s passion for making a difference brought to Columbus the Puffin Foundation whose mission is to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations that are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to race, gender or social philosophy. Kitrick’s dedication and support of community and her work through the Puffin Foundation reflects her mission to make Columbus a city where art is accessible and can be explored equally by all.
Alex Bandar, founder of the Idea Foundry and PhD engineer will receive the award for Emerging Arts Leader. A metallurgist by day, Bandar opened the Columbus Idea Foundry in 2008. Through hard work and his own personal funding, the Foundry has expanded into a 20,000 square foot warehouse space where anyone is welcome to come and learn a variety of metal working skills. Bandar has chosen to share his dream with the entire central Ohio arts community and through his generosity and personal risk, taking big chances on the artists of Columbus.
Bettye Stull, recipient of the award for Arts Educator, began her work in arts education in 1956 as an arts specialist and later an administrative coordinator for the Columbus Recreation & Parks Department. She worked frequently with children, overseeing programs at several community recreation centers for more than three decades. In 1987, Stull began work for the King Arts Complex when it opened, creating educational and cultural programs. Stull is best remembered for her creative and artistic programs at Sawyer, Beatty and Barack Recreation Centers along with the hundreds of lives she has impacted. For more than 60 years, Stull has helped give young people in our community creative experiences.
It’s a great honor to be nominated for the Community Arts Partnership Awards and GCAC is pleased to share the list of additional nominees for this year’s individual award categories and the business award nominees:
Arts Educator
Deborah Barrett Price, nominated by Leslie Geissler
Ambre Emory-Maier, nominated by Pam Bishop
Cindy Foley, nominated by Nancy Turner
Becky Ogden, nominated by Kristopher Keith
Tim Veach, nominated by Sean Kessler
DeSean Williams, nominated by Ramona James
Emerging Arts Leader
Eva Ball, nominated by Amy Mallat
Andy Batt, nominated by Jennifer Barlup
Janet Chen, nominated by Susanne Jaffe
Beth Dekker, nominated by Adam Brouillette
Megan Green, nominated by Adam Brouillette
Ritchie Kindler, nominated by Chrystal Robinson
Coco Loupe, nominated by Nicole Garlando
Diana Matuszak, nominated by Emily Moorhead
Erin Moore, nominated by Jim Sweeney
Tona Pearson, nominated by Jeremy Callahan
Andy & Chris Shaw, nominated by Mike Brown
Matt Slaybaugh, nominated by Emily Rhodes
Arts Partner
Jim Sweeney, nominated by Erin Moore
Paul Watkins, nominated by Susanne Jaffe
Large Business
AEP, nominated by ProMusica Chamber Orchestra
Big Lots Stores Inc., nominated by Wexner Center for the Arts
PNC, nominated by Columbus Museum of Art and Westerville Symphony
State Auto Insurance, nominated by Jazz Arts Group
Medium Business
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, nominated by Available Light Theatre
LIVE! Technologies, nominated by Columbus Symphony
Port Columbus International Airport, nominated by Ohio Art League
Resource Interactive, nominated by Wexner Center for the Arts
Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease, nominated by Wexner Center for the Arts
Small Business
Brainstorm Media Inc., nominated by ProMusica Chamber Orchestra
CD101 @ 102.5FM, nominated by North Market
City Scene Magazine, nominated by Michael McEwan Studio
Electronic Commodity Corporation, nominated by MadLab Theatre
Formation Studio, nominated by Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus
New Harvest Urban Arts Center, nominated by Tress Augustine
Outlook Columbus, nominated by Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board
SBC Advertising, nominated by Westerville Symphony
In addition to announcing the business award winners at the October 20 luncheon, GCAC will also present its Artistic Excellence Award—a $10,000 prize given annually to an arts organization that has demonstrated innovation, risk and artistic excellence in a performance, exhibition or program.
The 2011 Artistic Excellence nominee finalists are: Available Light Theatre, Skyscrapers of the Midwest, BalletMet Columbus and Shadowbox Live, 7 Deadly Sins, CATCO-Phoenix, PNC On Stage, and Wexner Center for the Arts, Mark Bradford exhibition.
The GCAC Board’s Community Arts Partnership committee selects the individual and business winners each year. GCAC’s Board of Trustees meets just prior to the Community Arts Partnership awards luncheon to select the Artistic Excellence Award winner.
The 2011 Community Arts Partnership Awards are presented by PNC. Media sponsors include City Scene Magazine, Time Warner Cable and WOSU. Awards sponsors are American Electric Power, Nationwide and Time Warner Cable.
About the Greater Columbus Arts Council: Through vision and leadership, advocacy and collaboration, the Greater Columbus Arts Council supports art and advances the culture of the region. A catalyst for excellence and innovation, we fund exemplary artists and arts organizations and provide programs, events and services of public value that educate and engage all audiences in our community. GCAC thanks the City of Columbus, Franklin County, the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts for their continued support.
CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org
