Tucson: TPAC Honors 25 Arts Leaders to Celebrate 25 Years

 

From: Donna Kreutz [mailto:prwords@q.com]
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 4:43 PM
Subject: TPAC Honors 25 Arts Leaders to Celebrate 25 Years

 

NEWS FROM TUCSON PIMA ARTS COUNCIL
Contact: Liz Bustamante, 624-0595 or lbustamante@tucsonpimaartscouncil.org

 

TPAC TO HONOR 25 ARTS & CULTURE LEADERS
AT 25^th-ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION JUNE 19

Saturday, June 19, * 7 -10 pm * Mercado San Agustín * 100 S. Avenida del Convento

Twenty-five individuals and teams will receive awards from the Tucson Pima Arts Council at its 25^th anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 19. The event will be held at the Mercado San Agustín in the Menlo Park neighborhood of downtown Tucson.

“These influential individuals represent the past and the future of arts and culture in greater Tucson,” said Roberto Bedoya, executive director. “They’ve laid foundations and impacted lives with their passion, creativity and commitment.”

Commemorative medallions will be presented to performing and visual artists, writers, arts administrators, arts advocates, arts supporters, volunteers and visionaries. The 25 honorees are:

·         David Aguirre – Visual artist and arts advocate

·         Charles Alexander – Poet, book artist, director of Chax Press and arts warehouse district advocate

·         Sam Behrend – Arts advocate and director of Access Tucson

·         Betsy Bolding – Arts supporter involved with TPAC, the Loft and Arizona Theatre Company; Director of Consumer Affairs for Tucson Electric Power.

·         Daniel Buckley – Writer, musician, composer, videographer, performance artist, audio engineer and arts advocate

·         Susan Claassen – Founder and director of Invisible Theatre

·         Dottie Davis – Arts volunteer, arts educator, founding member of Friends of Saguaro national park and former TPAC grants coordinator

·         Elías Family – Arts advocates

o                   -  Alberto M. Elías – Owner of Old Pueblo Printers and TPAC board member

o                   -  Albert F. Elías – City of Tucson administrator

o                    -  Richard D. Elías – Pima County Board of Supervisors, District 2

o                    -  Ana Elías-Terry – Tucson Unified School District special education specialist and artist

·         Terry Etherton – Gallery owner and arts advocate

·         Steve Farley – Founder of Voices: Community Stories Past and Present, public artist, arts advocate and Arizona State Representative, District 28

·         Susan Franano – Retiring Executive Director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra

·         Mary and Richard Fimbres – Founders of the Albert Soto Latino Arts Awards presented by the local League of United Latin American Citizens

·         Susan Gamble – Public artist, arts educator and downtown arts advocate

·         Jory Hancock and Melissa Lowe – Longtime leaders of the University of Arizona School of Dance. Hancock is the newly appointed dean of the UA College of Fine Arts.

·         Mia Hansen – Cultural events producer, choreographer, director of Tucson Meet Yourself and founder of FEATS: Event Association of Tucson and Southern Arizona

·         Michael Kasser – Businessman, longtime arts patron and collector

·         Nancy Lutz - Arts advocate, arts educator, chair of the Pima Cultural Planning Process, board member of the Tucson Downtown Partnership and former TPAC board president

·         Richard and Shana Oseran – Arts supporters and owners of Hotel Congress and Maynard’s Market

·         Patricia Preciado Martin – Awarding-winning author and cultural community leader

·         Curtis McCrary and Doug Biggers – Rialto Theater leadership team

·         Jim Rowley – Vice President of Circulation and Audience Development for Tucson Newspapers (TNI), President of the Tucson Advertising Federation and former board president of TPAC

·         Ernesto Portillo Jr. – KXCI D.J. (Onda Suave), journalist and arts advocate

·         Anne Marie Russell – Director and curator of Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), artist, arts educator and arts advocate

·         Beth Walkup – Co-founder of the Family Arts Festival and arts advocate who serves as the interim executive director of the Tucson Girls Chorus

·         Barbea Williams – Dancer, choreographer, artistic director, teacher and community leader

The ceremony and anniversary celebration will be from 7 to 10 p.m. and will include live music, hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Tickets are $25 per person in advance and are on sale now at www.ShowUp.com. They also can be purchased at the door for $35. Five tables of 10 also are available for $500 each. To purchase a table, call TPAC at 624-0595.

“This is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate the breadth and depth of the arts and culture in our community and to thank everyone who nurtures this important resource. We want to thank these individuals and the citizens of Tucson and Pima County for supporting the arts through TPAC for the past 25 years,” Bedoya said.

Now celebrating 25 years, TPAC is the designated local arts agency funded by the City of Tucson and Pima County. TPAC re-grants much of that funding for special projects and general support of emerging and well-established arts organizations throughout the region. TPAC also oversees the creation and installation of public art projects. Currently there are more than 100 pieces in the public’s art collection. TPAC maintains a roster of teaching artists for residencies in a wide range of community arts programs and sponsors a variety of professional development workshops for artists. The annual fall Open Studio Tour is a longtime TPAC tradition. The annual awards program began in 2004.

TPAC’s leadership highlights include:

·         -  Initiating the Pima Cultural Plan and forming several new community partnerships.

·         -  Securing grants from the National Endowment for the Art, the Kresge Foundation, Americans for the Arts, Arizona Arts Commission and other sources.

·         -  Sponsoring the annual Family Arts festival for eight years.

·         -  Founding Artworks Academy, nationally recognized alternative school for artistically talented at-risk youth, operated for nine years in partnerships with Tucson Unified School District and the Tucson Art Museum.

·         -  Creating the Ponies del Pueblo project with 35 life-sized pony sculptures painted by local artists and auctioned to support local non-profit organizations.

For more information, including this year’s grant awards and a guide to the public’s art collection, visit www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org.

 

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