NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Oct. 6, 2009
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
anndee@arts.ok.gov
MAYOR DWIGHT COPE TO RECEIVE GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD
Oklahoma City, OK – Mayor of Medicine Park Dwight Cope will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 34th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Mayor Cope will receive the George Nigh Public Service in the Arts Award that recognizes an Oklahoma government official for outstanding support of the arts.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council, 16 individuals and five organizations will be honored for their contributions to the arts in their communities or throughout the state. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 20th in the 4th Floor Rotunda of the State Capitol and is open to the public. Presiding at the ceremony will be Council Chair Kym Koch Thompson and Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Suzanne Tate. A reception on the first floor of the Capitol will follow the 4 p.m. ceremony.
The fourth son of an Air Force NCO, Cope grew up in southwest Oklahoma. After graduating high school he served in the U.S. Air Force during the Viet Nam era from 1971 -1975. Upon receiving an honorable discharge he attended Western Oklahoma State College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University receiving a bachelor’s degree in education. He has been a public school teacher since 1980 and is currently a Technology Education instructor at Lawton Central Middle school.
At an early age he acquired a love for music. Although attempts were made to be a musician, it never quite worked out for him. Throughout his life music was always an inspiration and became a major component of his life, attending concerts, going to live shows or listening to the local guys jamming. He is a self-proclaimed “world-class listener.”
In 2002 Cope became involved in the political aspect of the Town of Medicine Park. He has served on the Planning and Preservation Committee, the Economic Development Authority, the Town Board of Trustees and as a volunteer fireman.
He was appointed Mayor of Medicine Park in 2004 and still serves in that capacity. It is in that role that his love for his community and for music combined to produce events that not only promoted Medicine Park but also provided a conduit for cultural exposure and awareness of many genres of popular American music. After a couple years of discussion about the need for events in the town, he and some like-minded others decided to organize a blues festival to promote Medicine Park.
The first Mayor’s Blues Ball debuted on Labor Day weekend of 2007 and has grown proportionally into an established successful event. Cope has been the driving force of the event, writing grant proposals, organizing funding and marketing as well as the negotiation of contracts and scheduling of performers. It has been his objective to make Medicine Park a place to be recognized not only as a physical arts-based community but as a destination for music lovers. The Mayor’s Blues Ball, the newly implemented Red Dirt Ball featuring “Red Dirt” music, The Medicine Park Flute Gathering featuring Native American flute music and artwork and other live music performances at civic and privately sponsored events are examples of his vision for the community.
A complete list of Governor’s Arts Awards recipients and their photos are available at www.arts.ok.gov. For more information about the Governor’s Arts Awards, please contact Ann Dee Lee at (405) 521-2931 or at anndee@arts.ok.gov.
ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL
The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.
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