Celebrate the Arts

Thursday, May 14, 2009

CELEBRATE THE ARTS

L-R: Dr. Anne Matlack (Artistic Director, Harmonium) and Kevin Coughlin (Technical Editor, Star Ledger); Bonnie Monte (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ) talks with Buffy and Kevin O'Brien (Member, NJ State Council on the Arts); Julia Somers (Executive Director, NJ Highlands Coalition) with Ruth Kerkeslager (former First Lady of Madison).

L-R: Carole Hendrickson (teaching artist); Dr. Virginia Butera (Chair, Art Department and Director, Maloney Gallery, College of St. Elizabeth); Anne Aronovitch (Executive Director, Arts Council); Some of the 2009 Awardees: Rear L-R: "Teddy" Tedholm (Coladarci Scholarship winner), Yuqing Meng (Ehlers Scholarship Winner), David Grant (President & CEO, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation - Outstanding Arts Advocate), Member of NJ Foundation for the Blind (Outstanding Arts Organization); Front L-R: Anne Kullaf (Outstanding Professional in the Arts), Iris Torres (NJ Foundation for the Blind, Lori B. Lawrence (Outstanding Arts Educator); Attendees at the event.

L-R: Representatives from Arts at Diamond Spring/ NJ Foundation for the Blind; Arts Council's Anne Dodd, Director of Finance, and Janet Darrow, Volunteer Extraordinaire handling registration; Alan Levitan, Chairman of the Arts Council Board.

Learn more about the 2009 Winners below:

The Josephine Margetts Award, OUTSTANDING ARTS ADVOCATE: David Grant/ The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation- Where does one start to describe the far-reaching, enlightened and powerful arts advocacy provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation under the inspired leadership of David Grant?In terms of numbers: in 2008, the Trustees of the Dodge Foundation approved total support of New Jersey arts in the amount of $5,348,000 – with 92 grants made to nonprofit museums and galleries, community arts organizations, performing arts organizations - in theatre, dance, opera and music – along with grants made to other arts organizations via the Education and Morris County grantmaking cycles. Most meaningfully, however, this generosity was governed by a deep understanding of and commitment to the power of the arts to change lives. As President and CEO, David Grant remarked in a July press release, "The Dodge Foundation’s Trustees were deeply impressed by the myriad ways in which arts organizations are making a difference in their communities…The arts are an integral part of the revitalization of towns and cities across the state, and the impact of their programming and services benefits New Jersey residents of all ages – in urban neighborhoods and in rural hamlets from Sussex to Salem Counties."

Virtually everyone involved with the arts in New Jersey -- from the young artist inspired to pursue his dream because the Dodge Foundation purchased his painting to the established arts organizations whose efforts touch thousands – everyone in the arts has benefited from the support, understanding, and expert guidance which are the hallmarks of the Dodge Foundation’s remarkable arts advocacy. In these difficult times, Dodge has found even more creative and meaningful ways to support the arts community, sponsoring numerous workshops (including its own technical assistance training) that focus on giving nonprofits the tools to survive in tough economic times.

Organizations are defined by their leadership and, in that area, we are doubly blessed by having the inspired and inspiring David Grant as President and CEO of the Dodge Foundation. A graduate of Princeton, David holds a Masters in American Studies (U of Michigan) and, prior to joining Dodge in 1998, he had two decades of experience in education, the environment and in the performing arts (including performing worldwide in a one-man show as Mark Twain!). David has a true insider’s understanding of the arts and a keen appreciation of their intrinsic value, two characteristics which make him such an effective and respected leader and arts advocate. This award honors the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and its President and CEO David Grant for their steadfast belief in the value of the arts, unfailing support of creativity, their guidance and training to enhance effectiveness, generous financial support, and for simply being "guardian angels" to the arts community.

OUTSTANDING CORPORATION: Marty’s Reliable Cycle Under the enlightened leadership of Marty Epstein and his son Jesse, Marty’s Reliable Cycle also sets a new standard for a local business which not only lives its core values but also embodies a commitment to the arts. Marty’s artistic instincts surface everywhere: in creative themes for bike races and events, and in the component of the business is devoted to the restoring and redecorating old bikes. What other bikestore holds art exhibitions, complete with a formal Call for Artists (whose work incorporates some reference to bikes), opening receptions and a desire to provide opportunities for both established and emerging artists? Additionally, for 2 full months last Fall, Marty’s allowed part of its Morristown store to be transformed into an artist’s studio for the Arts Council’s visiting artist to use and to enable the community to participate in painting the magnificent mural now installed at Morristown Neighborhood House. It could not have been easy to have a steady stream of non-customers coming to paint mural panels or to set aside a large space in the store for the inevitably messy painting effort, all the while running a bike business. Yet, Marty and his son Jesse did everything possible to encourage and enable the mural work to proceed. In the end, more than 1,000 individuals worked on the Mural Project with no small number owing their access to that experience to the enlightened promotion of the arts by Marty’s Reliable Cycle.

OUTSTANDING ARTS ORGANIZATION: THE ARTS AT DIAMOND SPRING Program of the NEW JERSEY FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND- "When I paint, I don’t just see with my eyes, I see with my imagination, my heart, and with every cell of my body." In this statement, visually impaired artist Bojana Coklyat captures the essence of the Arts at Diamond Spring, a program of the NJ Foundation for the Blind, which provides arts education for its students as well as community arts and musical events featuring visual and performing arts by blind and vision-impaired adults. Through sensory and tactile training, The Arts at Diamond Spring speeds vision rehabilitation; restores emotional health through arts therapy; develops arts appreciation and technical skills among untrained artists; retrains accomplished artists on adaptive techniques; and fosters the integration of blind and visually impaired adults into the sighted community. Weaving, for example, helps build coordination and balance. Pottery, painting and sculpture sharpen the tactile skills needed to learn the Braille alphabet or to use one’s hands as a new set of eyes to accomplish daily activities. Through music appreciation, students learn to differentiate sounds, a skill needed to navigate safely without sight, especially outdoors. The arts also provide a healing environment for those understandably depressed by vision loss while community arts events integrate the blind and visually impaired with the sighted and enhance the public’s appreciation of the creative and artistic talents of the disabled. This award recognizes the Arts at Diamond Spring’s exceptional efforts in these areas.

OUTSTANDING ARTS EDUCATOR: LORI B. LAWRENCE - Described in one nominating statement as "the consummate teacher and professional," Lori Lawrence serves as Director of Educational Programming for the Growing Stage Theater, overseeing the educational component of all theater productions, coordinating fall and spring class sessions along with Summer Arts Day Camp, all workshops and residencies. As a professional teaching artist herself, Lori established year-long workshops for both public and private schools in Mount Olive, Stanhope, the El Primer Paso Preschool in Dover as well as for the BRIGHT co-op Home School Association which impacts young people throughout northwestern New Jersey. Lori also created an ongoing collaboration with the Morris County Council of Girl Scouts by provided "master class" opportunities throughout the academic calendar. Her efforts have spawned over 250 performances throughout the state, including NJ premieres, musicals and school performances which reach over 6,500 young people annually. Colleagues, students, and parents detailed Lori’s exceptional contribution to their lives. Parents praise her ability to "find the strength in each child and build upon it" while a professional theater colleague stated, " It has been an honor for me to be able to teach alongside of Lori…" her "outstanding mentorship and encouragement …taught me to meet challenges in the classroom that I have never before thought possible." This award honors Lori B. Lawrence for inspiring others by her example and for the creativity, excitement, dedication she brings to her work.

OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL IN THE ARTS: ANNE KULLAF - A highly acclaimed professional artist known for her Contemporary Realism style, Anne Kullaf exhibits nationally and internationally. Represented by galleries in Naples, FL and New York City, Kullaf’s work is also in two traveling museum exhibitions and has been included in multiple juried exhibitions. Additionally, for the past 4 years, she has worked as a teaching artist at Creative Heartwork, enabling children to regain their confidence and trust in themselves, and to see the value of the arts as a tool for coping with sadness, pain or challenges. Kullaf has co-facilitated numerous projects at the Morris County Youth Shelter, Neighborhood House and juvenile detention center in addition to the healing arts studio at Creative Heartwork. Her patient, calm presence and encouragement have nurtured many children who were scared, withdrawn and depressed. She works with any and all child clients, even those with violent and aggressive behaviors, producing remarkable artistic results and helping the children to "let everything else go and just paint." She is not only an outstanding professional artist but also, as Karen Carbonello states: "…a role model for living in the moment and staying calm and focused despite challenging circumstances and taking charge of your life by deciding to paint despite the darkness." This award honors Anne Kullaf’s artistic excellence, her generosity and commitment to those with unique needs and her exceptional ability to share her passion for art with even the most troubled or hurt among us.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION: BONNIE MONTE/THE SHAKESPEARE THEATRE OF NEW JERSEY – The Arts Council of the Morris Area was delighted to honor the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and its Artistic Director, Bonnie Monte, with a Special Recognition Award for their wonderful collaborative efforts in connection with the Arts Council’s Arts Education Program. For several years, they have opened the Shakespeare Theatre and shared their staff’s expertise to make the Arts Council’s annual Arts Education Showcase a memorable and special event for our cultural arts representatives. It is an amazing partnership that benefits and encourages arts programming in our community’s schools.

ELAINE EHLERS ARTS SCHOLARSHIP: YUQING MENG - Eight years ago, The Arts Council of the Morris Area collaborated with Elaine Ehlers’ family to initiate a scholarship to be given annually to foster new artistic talent, helping a graduating Morris County high school senior who possesses artistic talent to pursue further study in an area related to the arts. Created as a tribute to the memory of Elaine Ehlers, a health-care administrator by profession, who had a voracious appetite for all things artistic and musical and who derived intellectual and emotional sustenance from the arts, this year’s Ehlers Scholarship (in the amount of $4,250) is awarded to Yuqing Meng, a graduating senior at Madison High School. This extraordinary young pianist performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic in Lincoln Center at the age of 13 and on NPR’s prestigious "From the Top" radio showcase of America’s top young classical musicians. Winner of numerous prizes, Young Artist competitions and special honors from Juilliard’s Pre-College Division, Yuqing garnered first place in national and international competitions and performed as a soloist with orchestras at Lincoln Center, as well as in Canada, Mexico, and China. His teacher, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Chair of Juilliard’s Piano Department and Artistic Director of the Pre-College Division, has top praise for not only his outstanding musical achievements but also for his humanity and social awareness. Yuqing has used his music to make a difference in the community, donating his First Night Morris fee to his high school and the Madison Arts & Culture Alliance as well as raising $16,000 for victims of the 2008 earthquake in China. Astonishingly, his academic achievements rival his musical honors. He was the only incoming applicant pianist accepted into the joint program at Harvard and the New England Conservatory of Music, which he will be attending in the Fall. The scholarship panel was struck by the breadth and depth of Yuqing’s application. His performance was not only technically flawless but full of passion and nuance, intelligence, delicacy and power, reflecting a musical maturity far beyond what one would ever anticipate from a high school senior. It was, simply put, inspiring.

EUGENIE COLADARCI ARTS SCHOLARSHIP: EDWARD "TEDDY" TEDHOLM - Eleven years ago, The Arts Council of the Morris Area collaborated with the Coladarci family and initiated a scholarship to be given annually to a graduating Morris County high school senior who plans to pursue further study in an area related to the arts. Created as a tribute to the memory of our former Board Chair, Eugenie Coladarci, who was Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Chase Manhattan Bank and an active member of the Arts Council of the Morris Area for eleven years, this year’s $1,250 scholarship goes to dancer Edward "Teddy" Tedholm, a graduating senior at Morris Hills High School in Rockaway. "Teddy’s" passion for dance was abundantly evident throughout his application. He has studied dance for 15 years and distinguished himself as a dance scholar at Governor’s School, a scholarship student at the Joffrey Ballet School’s Summer Intensive in jazz and contemporary dance, as well as a first place soloist and winner of multiple dance competitions. His ballet teacher at East Coast Movement stated,: "Teddy has a mature and unique style of movement, free and fearless, a presence which you can’t help but watch. His artistic choices are inspiring and infectious to observers, making it clear he loves what he is doing." His Guidance Counselor added: "He has made that leap from good dancer to one of the best dancers who has graced our stage....he is the whole package." Teddy’s own words reveal the intensity of his understanding of and commitment to dance: "Now I dance from a whole new part of me…not from my ‘core’ or from my limbs, but from my soul. Dance is not something I do because I love it; it is something I do because I feel free.… my passion and love for dance will never die." The scholarship panel was particularly impressed by Teddy’s technical mastery, his physical strength and control, his exceptional ability to articulate the meaning of lyrics through movement and his strikingly original, unconventional and "fearless" style.

Due to an unusually large and talented scholarship applicant pool this year, The Arts Council also awarded two Honorable Mentions: Mark Micchelli (jazz pianist/composer) and Joshua Zimmer (trombonist).

Additional special features of the evening included an exhibit of artwork by blind and visually impaired artists working with The Arts at Diamond Spring program, a brief documentary about the Arts Council’s Mural Arts Project (which involved nearly 1,000 individuals in the creation process and resulted in the spectacular 35’x35’ mural now installed on the side of Morristown Neighborhood House) and a performance of Balakirev's "Islamey: An Oriental Fantasy" by the outstanding young pianist and Ehlers Scholarship winner, Yuqing Meng.