JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.-The Missouri Arts Council has selected the recipients of the 2016 Missouri Arts Awards. Individuals, organizations, and communities were recognized in the five categories of Arts Education, Arts Organization, Creative Community, Individual Artist, and Leadership in the Arts.
* Arts Education: Halcyone Ewalt Perlman, Columbia
Dancer, teacher, director, and choreographer who for more than five decades has taught, inspired, and created original works for thousands of students from across Missouri and beyond through her Perlman-Stoy School of Ballet and its performing wing, Mid-Missouri Dance Theatre
* Arts Organization: STAGES St. Louis
Musical theatre company every year producing Broadway-quality shows for 50,000 patrons, educating thousands of students at its Performing Arts Academy, employing hundreds of professionals from actors to designers, and reaching out via programs including its Urban Arts Initiative and Access the Arts
* Creative Community: Community of Chillicothe
North central regional hub city with a flourishing array of artists, art lovers, nonprofit organizations, and businesses that partner to create resources such as 20 huge outdoor murals, the Sliced Bread Jam Bluegrass Festival, Chautauqua in the Park, and an upcoming downtown arts center
* Individual Artist: John L. Schaefer, Kansas City
Organist and director of the vocal and handbell choirs of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral since 1976, who brings music to the entire community by creating concerts with local, national, and international musicians and by supporting the arts as a mentor, board member, philanthropist, and writer
* Leadership in the Arts: Jo Mueller, Joplin
Executive director 2003-15 of the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts who transformed the center into a vibrant, accessible cultural anchor for the region and an engine for economic development and better quality of life with year-round exhibitions, events, and hands-on education programs for all ages
The awards will officially be presented in a ceremony on February 10, 2016, in the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City. The honorees will receive original glass art created by Chris McCarthy of Park Avenue Glass in St. Louis.
2016 is the 33rd year for the state’s highest honor in the arts, created to recognize individuals and organizations that have made profound and lasting contributions to the cultural and artistic legacy of the state.
Awards recipients are selected from public nominations by an independent panel of Missouri citizens who are distinguished representatives of the arts community throughout the state. These panelists selected the 2016 honorees:
* Cynthia Cartwright, panel chair, Kansas City; vice chair of the Missouri Arts Council and Trust Board
* Sharon Gray, St. Joseph; vocal arts teacher and arts volunteer
* Kristi Kittleson, Springfield; program coordinator, Missouri Association of Community Arts Agencies
* Karen Millsap, Mt. Vernon; president, Mt. Vernon Regional Arts Council (2013 Arts Organization Award)
* J.J. Musgrove, Columbia; director, City of Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs
* Gerry Welch, Webster Groves; mayor, City of Webster Groves (2013 Creative Community Award)
* Peter Witte, Kansas City; dean, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance (2014 Arts Organization Award)
About the Missouri Arts Council
The Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The council provides support to nonprofit organizations through grants that meet its strategic goals:
* Increase participation in the arts in Missouri
* Grow Missouri’s economy using the arts
* Strengthen Missouri education through the arts
The Missouri Arts Council awards grants to organizations to stimulate the growth, development, and appreciation of the arts in Missouri. This funding makes possible quality arts programming to communities throughout the state. In addition to financial assistance, the council provides expertise in community development, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, arts education, artistic disciplines (visual arts, music, literature, theater, dance, festivals, and film/media), and more.
