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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2011
Contact: Gregory Liakos,
Communications Director 617-727-3668 x343
2011 Commonwealth Awards Celebrate
Achievements in Arts & Culture
Awards honor cultural organizations, educators
and philanthropists
(BOSTON) – Today the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) announced
the winners of the 2011
Commonwealth Awards, honoring exceptional achievement in the
arts, humanities, and sciences. The Commonwealth Awards will be
presented Wednesday, February 9 at a Massachusetts State House
ceremony made possible by a sponsorship from Bank of America.
The awardees in each of six categories are:
- Achievement:
Williamstown Theatre Festival
- Creative Community:
Turners Falls RiverCulture
Project, Montague
Team Haverhill
Villa Victoria Center for
the Arts, Boston
- Creative Learning:
Nancy Barile, Revere
High School
Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth
- Cultural Philanthropy:
Theodore H. Cutler Family
Charitable Trust, Boston
- Culture & Healing:
Longwood Symphony Orchestra,
Boston
- Leadership:
Katherine Sloan,
Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston
Nancy Jane Fitzpatrick,
Berkshire Creative, Pittsfield
The MCC will also recognize world-renowned violinist Lynn Chang
of Newton for his courageous performance on Dec. 10, 2010 in Oslo
in honor of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese poet and dissident and winner
of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Lynn will reprise part of that historic
performance at the Commonwealth Awards ceremony.
"The Commonwealth Award winners demonstrate that arts and culture
are central to everything that makes Massachusetts such a special
place," said MCC Executive Director Anita Walker. "We are proud
to honor these individuals and organizations for their exceptional
accomplishments and all that they have contributed to our state.
Together, they tell a powerful story of the public value of the
arts, humanities, and sciences."
Full profiles of each of the
awardees are available online.
The Commonwealth Awards shine a spotlight on the extraordinary
contributions that arts and culture make to education, economic
vitality, and quality of life in communities across Massachusetts.
Held every two years, the Commonwealth Awards ceremony also brings
together the Massachusetts nonprofit cultural sector to assert its
value and make the case for public investment in its work.
Past winners include leading artists, writers, and scholars such
as Yo-Yo Ma and David McCullough; world-class institutions like
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and the Peabody Essex Museum; and
social innovators like the Boston Cyberarts Festival and the Barbara
Lee Family Foundation.
The 2011 Commonwealth Awards continue this tradition on Wednesday,
February 9 with a ceremony at State House from 1 to 4 p.m. This
year a new award for Culture & Healing recognizes the increasingly
important role the arts, humanities, and sciences play in healthcare.
Bank of America is once again the exclusive sponsor of
the Commonwealth Awards.
Each Commonwealth Award winner receives an original object created
by artist Sue Aygarn Kowalski of Carver. Leaders of the state Legislature
will be on hand to present the Awards. This event is free and open
to the public. Registration
is now open. (Seating is limited. Registration closes
February 1.)
About the Massachusetts Cultural Council
The Massachusetts Cultural Council is a state agency that promotes
excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities
and sciences, to improve the quality of life for Massachusetts residents
and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities.
MCC is committed to building a central place for arts and culture
in the lives of communities across the Commonwealth. The agency
pursues this mission through a combination of grants, services,
and advocacy for cultural organizations, schools, communities, and
artists. MCC receives an annual appropriation from the state Legislature
and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources.
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