The annual Mayor’s Awards for the Arts is Thursday night at the Benton Club in St Joseph. This year, the event is combined with a celebration for the Allied Arts Council’s 50 years of service to the community.
The event starts at 5:30 pm, July 18, at the Benton Club, 402 N. 7th, St. Joseph
“The Mayor’s Awards for the Arts encourage citizens to express themselves in areas that create culture and opportunities to experience an event, whether by participating or enjoying a relaxing evening being entertained,” said Mayor Bill Falkner.
Artist of the Year
John T. Knechtenhofer
Laurel Klinger Vartabedian, PhD
Arts Educator of the Year
Ashley Kempt
Arts/Business Partnership
Chad Crooks/Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church and St. Joseph School District
Mount Mora Cemetery Preservation & Restoration Association’s “Voices of the Past” and St. Joseph Museums, Inc.
Youth Artist
Sarah Bronson
Joseph Kellogg
Reid Schmidling
Business Support of the Arts
Chad Crooks/Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church
The First Ward House
Individual Leadership
David Cripe
Volunteer of the Year
The First Ward House (Ryan Gerster/David Allison)
Carol Matt
Extraordinary Lifetime Achievement Award
Charles (Bud) Salanski
The Annual Meeting includes a recap of the Allied Arts Council’s programs and election of Board of Directors. The nominating committee presents the following nominative slate:
Class of 2015
Megan Dwyer
Candy Embray
Class of 2016
Ed Andres
Trudie Diaz-Farmer
Dan Hegeman
Shana Meyer
Stacey Park
Melody Smith
Darren Verbick
Nominating Committee
Byron Myers
Alison Schieber
Ray Sisson
Melody Smith
Arts Fund Endowment Committee
Mark Cochran
Karen Graves
Brandon Holle
Larry Stobbs
Matt Tabor
Donna Turk
Following the annual meeting, the Board of Directors votes on the proposed slate of officers:
President- Natalie Redmond
1st Vice President- Mark Cochran
2nd Vice President- Brett Lackey
Secretary- Barb Connor
Treasurer- Dan Hegeman