NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess News Service) – The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters) presented their annual awards to vocal artists Sweet Honey in the Rock (Washington, DC), performance artist Tim Miller (Santa Monica, CA) and performing arts professionals Baraka Sele (Newark, NJ) and John Killacky (San Francisco, CA).
"The four recipients show us that the future of the performing arts community is wide open, ready for change and growth, willing to explore new avenues for creativity and expression," said Sandra Gibson, president & CEO of Arts Presenters. "These are the planners, the decision makers and the motivators for the work that engages our communities, our schools and our cultural landscapes."
Association of Performing Arts Presenters Award of Merit for Achievement in the Performing Arts: Sweet Honey in the Rock
The Award of Merit honors individuals whose genius, energy and excellence have defined or redefined an art form for today's audiences.
"We must continue to provide opportunities in the face of tremendous diminishing support for the arts in our society, we must still get up everyday understanding that to be fully human, your heart has to be touched and expanded by artistic creative expression," said founder Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagan.
Sidney R. Yates Advocacy Award for Outstanding Advocacy on Behalf of the Performing Arts: Tim Miller
The Sidney R. Yates Advocacy Award honors an individual or an organization for a particular advocacy effort or for a sustained advocacy campaign at the national, state or local level that has a significant impact on the performing arts. "I feel like all the various hats I wear – as performer, activist, presenter, educator – all go toward fulfilling my creative mission – to raise awareness, embolden audiences, and encourage more justice in our ever-beleaguered society," said Miller.
William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence for Sustained Achievement in Programming:
Baraka Sele, New Jersey Performing Arts Center
The William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence honors an individual
or organization for the quality, innovation and vision of program design, audience building and community efforts. "What are we doing to impact the lives and the communities of the artists we bring to our stages; the artists we are hoping to impact our communities? That to me is the challenge for presenters and producers of the 21st century – as globalism sweeps the world and as globalism becomes the new cultural, social, political and spiritual context," said Sele.
Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award for Exemplary Service to the Field of Professional Presenting: John Killacky, San Francisco Foundation
This award honors an individual whose outstanding service, creative thinking and leadership have had a significant impact on the profession of presenting and/or on the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. "Our industry has changed, as we have changed. Twenty-five years from now, may I see all the new industry leaders of today being supported and loved by this community as I have been supported," said Killacky. –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
