2018 National Arts Awards Monday, October 22, 2018
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2018 National Arts Awards Monday, October 22, 2018 Welcome from Carolyn Clark Powers Remarks by Sarah Arison Chair, National Arts Awards Co-Chair, National Arts Awards Arts Education Award Performance by National YoungArts Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Foundation Alumni Accepted by Virginia McEnerney Presented by Zac Posen Philanthropy in the Arts Award Ann Ziff 1 Carolyn Clark Powers Presented by Renée Fleming Lifetime Achievement Award Mavis Staples Ted Arison Young Artist Award Presented by Stephen Colbert Justin Peck Presented by Tiler Peck Remarks by Robert L. Lynch President and CEO of Marina Kellen French Outstanding Americans for the Arts Contributions to the Arts Award Ai Weiwei Dinner Presented by Alexandra Munroe Closing Remarks Julie C. Muraco Chair, Americans for the Arts Board of Directors Greetings from the Board Chair and President It is our pleasure to welcome you to the 2018 presentation of Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Awards. Tonight’s honorees include three artists who are trailblazers in their respective fi elds, along with a philanthropist whose support resonates throughout the art world and beyond, and an exceptional arts education non-profi t celebrating a milestone 95 years empowering young artists to fi nd their voices. Each of our honorees exemplifi es the mission of Americans for the Arts to promote access to the arts for all and communicate the many values of the arts in all our lives. The past year has reaffi rmed the critical role of our strategic partners and collaborators as we launched new tools for the fi eld and helped lead the fi ght, once again, to save the National Endowment for the Arts and the country’s other cultural agencies. With the help of our nationwide network of advocates like you, we received support for the arts from a bipartisan majority in Congress that resolutely rejected the efforts to terminate our nation’s cultural agencies. We even gained modest increases to those appropriations two years in a row. 2 However, our work is never done. Despite this increase, federal funding alone is not enough to support truly robust arts and cultural industries. We will continue advocating for increased private and public support at the federal, state, and local levels and in January we will be tasked with educating a whole new class of legislators about the indelible power of the arts in communities. In making the case for the arts across the country, we employ a range of arguments emphasizing the multi-faceted impact of the arts. One argument is centered around the importance of the creative industries and their economic impact – non-profi t arts and culture organizations make up a $166.3 billion industry in the U.S. And when including the broader for-profi t creative industries, that number soars to $760 billion. While these economic impacts resonate, we must also consider the profound social impacts of our sector. These are highlighted in our new tool, the Arts + Social Impact explorer. This tool explores the ways in which the arts intersect with a number of pressing social issues – among them community development, civic dialogue, cultural equity, and the environment. In recognizing these varied impacts, we are best placed to make the compelling arguments in favor of the arts to the widest possible audience. Americans for the Arts is committed to healing and empowering our nation through access to the arts. We hope you enjoy this evening celebrating the accomplishments of our honorees. Thank you for joining us tonight and thank you, as always, for your support. Julie C. Muraco Robert L. Lynch Chair, Board of Directors President and CEO The National Arts Awards Chair Dear Friends of Americans for the Arts, I am happy to welcome you to the National Arts Awards in my fourth year serving as chair. This year, we have a stellar group of honorees and I cannot wait for you to learn more about them and their incredible work. I am particularly excited that my namesake Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Mavis Staples. Honoring Mavis is particularly personal to me, because she feels like a member of my extended musical family—we are connected through Dockery Farms, my ancestral home and the place where Mavis’ father, “Pops” Staples, learned from and played with blues artists such as the great Charlie Patton. In addition to her decades-long success as an artist, Mavis is a true activist. During the Civil Rights Movement, she used her powerful voice – both in song and in protest—to speak out for important causes, working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as Congressman John Lewis. Mavis continues her music and activism today and has collaborated across genres and social issues. Empowering artists to use and explore their creativity is important to us all, and perhaps the most 3 important moment for this is during adolescence. For this reason, we are grateful that, 95 years ago, Maurice R. Robinson, the founder of Scholastic, Inc., recognized the necessity of highlighting and elevating the work and voices of young people. Over the years, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers has continued to recognize this work through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and its list of prestigious alumni has continued to grow. It includes: Robert Redford, Americans for the Arts' Artists Committee member and co-founder of our National Arts Policy Roundtable; Lena Dunham; Zac Posen; Ken Burns; Joyce Carol Oates; and many others who have made their mark on both the arts and non-arts world. Congratulations, and we look forward to seeing what the next 95 years bring! Ann Ziff is one of the most prolifi c philanthropists in the art world today. She is deeply committed not only to major institutions, such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (in my neck of the woods), but to smaller organizations, such as Sing for Hope. Ann’s philanthropic work also extends beyond the arts to organizations like the New York Restoration Project and Smile Train. Artistry runs in Ann’s veins; the daughter of an opera singer, she also makes and designs her own jewelry. Becoming a soloist dancer in a major ballet company is impressive enough but being named that same company’s resident choreographer before the age of 30 is even more so. This evening, we honor Justin Peck— New York City Ballet soloist and resident choreographer— with the Ted Arison Young Artist Award in recognition of his work that explores how dance The National Arts Awards Chair can push boundaries and evolve while building on centuries of tradition. At the same time, Justin is a phenomenal collaborator and has recently brought his talents to the theater world, when he choreographed the Broadway revival of Carousel, for which he won a Tony Award. The brilliance of his work is being recognized around the country, and the world, as more and more companies perform his work and commission new pieces. We cannot wait to see how he continues to impact and change the dance world in all its forms. Ai Weiwei is recognized throughout the world not only as a phenomenal visual artist, but also a social provocateur in the interest of justice and human rights. His activism through art is exactly what the Marina Kellen French Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award is intended to recognize. He uses multiple mediums to speak truth to power, and his work resonates with people around the global, whether in a public space or a private collection. I want to add my thanks to Marina Kellen French —we have named the Outstanding Contributions Award in her name this year, in recognition of her generosity and dedication to support for the arts writ large. There is a particular synergy in the room this evening, brought on by the work of John Baldessari 4 displayed in this stunning space. As a student, John was the recipient of a Scholastic Art & Writing Award, which set him on his journey as an artist. His path crossed with that of another of tonight’s honorees later in his career when, in 2016, he designed the sets for Justin Peck’s original ballet Entre Chien et Loup. These collaborations demonstrate the breadth and depth of the work of this year’s honorees, as well as the extraordinary relationships that are built within our community of artists and supporters. I am grateful to my co-chairs Sarah Arison, Betsy and Edward Cohen, David and Susan Goode, Agnes Gund, Marina Kellen French, Jeff and Justine Koons, Nora Orphanides, and Richard Robinson/ Scholastic, Inc, in addition to the benefi t committee, who have all worked so hard to make tonight a success. Finally, I want to thank all of you—without your support none of this would be possible. I am heartened that, in a time of great division, the arts continue to unify us all. I am so happy we can come together tonight to share and celebrate how the arts have touched us and our communities. Carolyn Clark Powers Benefi t Committee Chair Carolyn Clark Powers Co-Chairs Sarah Arison Agnes Gund Nora C. Orphanides Betsy and Edward Cohen Marina Kellen French Richard Robinson/ Scholastic, Inc. David and Susan Goode Justine and Jeff Koons Benefi t Committee Alec Baldwin Suzanne and Richard Kayne Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joseph Neubauer Tony Bennett and John Legend Susan Benedetto Yoko Ono The Honorable and Mrs. Eli and Edythe Broad Earle I. Mack Robert Redford 5 BVLGARI Timothy J. McClimon Charles Segars, Ovation TV Gail and Alfred Engelberg Julie Mehretu Cindy Sherman Ben Folds Bette Midler Nancy Stephens and Rick Rosenthal Josh Groban Brian Stokes Mitchell Jamie and David Wolf David Hallberg Mr.