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Arts Council Announces Recipients of
16th Annual Arts Awards
To be presented October 8, 1999
The Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester proudly announces recipients of the 16th annual Arts Awards. The awards will be presented at noon on Friday, October 8, 1998 at the Hyatt Regency Rochester.
The 1999 recipients are:
Artist
John Beck, percussionist and teacher
Business
Nixon Peabody LLP
Cultural Organization
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Individual
Dale T. Davis, arts educator, scholar and writer
Special Citation
Susan B. Anthony House
The Arts Council will also recognize two organizations celebrating landmark anniversaries: George Eastman House - 50 years and Rochester Community Players - 75 years.
A 27-member Selection Committee, chaired by Virginia R. Cornyn of Xerox Corporation, selected the awards recipients. The 16th annual Arts Awards are sponsored by Stickley, Nixon Peabody LLP and the Hurlbut Foundation. Each of the awards recipients will receive a commemorative metal crafted bowl created by artist Tom Markusen.
The 16th annual Arts Awards program is open to the public. Reservations for the luncheon are available by calling 473-4000 x202. Tickets are $40.
Descriptions of the award recipients follow. Photographs are available on request.
Artist Award
John Beck receives the award for Lifetime Achievement as an Artist. This year marks Beck's 40th anniversary seasons with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, where he is Principal Tympanist, and the Eastman School of Music, where he is Professor of Percussion.
Beck's contributions to the field of percussive arts include roles as performer, educator, author, composer, and mentor. With the RPO, he has consistently performed at the highest level with many internationally recognized conductors and instrumental soloists, both in concerts and on recordings.
Beck is chairman of the Percussion Department at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music. He has become one of the most influential teachers of percussion in the world.
Beck leads the John Beck Trio and is a member of the Rochester Jazz All Stars, which often performs for local charitable events. William L. Cahn, former RPO principal percussionist, who nominated Beck for the award, described him as "a committed artist, an effective teacher, and a supportive colleague."
Business Award.
The law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP is the recipient of the business award. On July 1, 1999, the Rochester-based law firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle LLP merged with the New England-based Peabody & Brown to become Nixon Peabody LLP.
The members and employees of the Nixon law firm have for many years been very strong supporters of local arts and cultural organizations. The firm's dedication to the cultural life of the Greater Rochester community includes both financial and service contributions. Attorneys from the firm currently serve as volunteers for a long and inclusive list of local arts and cultural institutions, often as members of the boards of directors or on fund-raising and other committees.
Earlier this year, the Nixon firm showed its commitment to local artists by hosting a show of the work of local artists and giving vouchers to employees to be used to select work to be hung near their work areas. The firm also purchased and commissioned a number of pieces to be hung in the conference rooms and other public spaces in its offices in Clinton Square.
The firm's periodic seminars and workshops on legal issues affecting charitable organizations further demonstrate Nixon Peabody's outstanding support of local cultural organizations, as does their willingness to let non-profit cultural organizations use their large and flexible conference space.
A list of the beneficiaries of the firm's support includes every arts and cultural discipline for which the Rochester area is rightfully renowned: Geva Theatre, WXXI Public Television, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Museum and Science Center, George Eastman House, Memorial Art Gallery, Hochstein School of Music, Genesee Country Museum & Village, Rochester Public Library, Writers & Books, BOA Editions Ltd., Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester and the Landmark Society of Western New York.
Nixon Peabody has announced that it looks forward to the continuation of the firm's strong support of the culture and community of Rochester.
Cultural Organization Award
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been a cornerstone of our community since its founding in 1922 by Rochester's greatest philanthropist, George Eastman. This year, it receives the Cultural Organization Award for outstanding fulfillment of its mission "…to perform and present a broad range of quality music; attract, entertain and educate audiences with superior musical performances; maintain and build the Orchestra's national reputation; and enhance the reputation of the Rochester community as a place to live, work, play, visit and learn."
For 76 years, the orchestra has brought world-class professional performances to the people of the Rochester region. Some of the greatest conductors of our time, and many legendary artists, including Igor Stravinsky, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald have appeared with the orchestra.
As George Eastman intended it to be, the RPO is a community-based organization intent on making music accessible to everyone. In addition to performing its celebrated concert series at the Eastman Theatre and the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center, the RPO has developed innovative programs that bring music to people, where they live, work, and play.
The RPO was one of the first orchestras in the United States to create a music education program for children. These programs inspire young people to study music or to cultivate other creative impulses.
Individual Award
Through her activities as an arts educator, writer, scholar, and publisher, Dale T. Davis is a passionate advocate for pursuing culture to enhance the quality of life. For Dale, the ability to access and interpret good literature is key to a person's self-esteem.
Davis is a profoundly effective, nationally recognized educator of at-risk youth. At Hillside Children's Center, St. Joseph's Villa, and Monroe- BOCES 1, with students of Young Audiences Rochester, or with pregnant and parenting teenagers, Dale uses reading and writing to allow young people to make their own worlds visible - to see themselves and to be seen by others.
A pioneer in the Artists in Education movement, Davis has worked in a diverse range of classrooms and neighborhood settings throughout our region. Believing that students of every age deserve the finest teachers, she has brought some of the century's greatest writers, including Octavio Paz and Robert Fitzgerald, into local classrooms.
Dale Davis is, not surprisingly, one of Rochester's foremost proponents, cultivators, and scholars of literature and theater. She has been Dramaturg at Geva Theatre since 1997, and writes and produces plays in Rochester area schools.
Special Citation
Susan B. Anthony House, one of only two National Historic Landmarks in Monroe County, receives the 1999 Special Citation for its extraordinary transformation over the last decade. The Susan B. Anthony House was the home of the legendary American civil rights leader during the most politically active period of her life, and the site of her famous arrest for voting in 1872.
Today, the Susan B. Anthony House is part of the Susan B. Anthony Preservation District, a nine-block area that is one of the last intact 19th century middle-class neighborhoods in the country. A recent campaign has quadrupled the size of the historical site, making Anthony's life and times more accessible to thousands of visitors.
A preliminary aspect of the building campaign was the renovation of the house next door to Anthony's. The creation of a new Education and Visitor Center enlivens its urban neighborhood and provides state-of-the-art exhibitions about Susan B. Anthony's social and political activities.
With the building of the Visitors Center, Anthony House trustees return their attention to their primary goal, which is the restoration of the original Susan B. Anthony House at 17 Madison Street. This building maintains and exhibits many of Anthony's personal affects including furniture, correspondence, pictures, photographs and books in their original settings.
The recently launched Anthony House web site at www.susanbanthonyhouse.org receives over 5,000 hits per day, or over 2 million visits each year.
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