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

GINA FLESHER TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD

Oklahoma City, OK –Gina Flesher, Duncan, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 34th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Flesher will receive a Community Service Award which recognizes individuals for significant contributions to the arts in specific Oklahoma communities in the areas of leadership and volunteerism.

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.

For more than a decade, Gina Flesher has been deeply involved in developing and expanding arts programs that benefit students and the under-served in Duncan, while increasing the resources of community arts organizations. During the 90s, while Duncan’s Little Theatre summer arts camp for teens was flourishing, the Chisholm Trail Arts Council’s (CTAC) summer camp for elementary school students languished, due to lack of interest, participation, funding and direction. Flesher stepped in, not only as program coordinator, instructor and costume designer, she also initiated a scholarship program for both camps which ensured an opportunity for all students in Stephens County to participate. As a direct result of her leadership and tenacity, CTAC’s Summer Arts Explosion became so successful it attracted students from other parts of the state.

Flesher became a catalyst to grow the Artists in Schools program, which brings professional artists into public schools for teaching residencies, from just a few schools to placing artists in all six public school districts in Stephens County. In the past 10 years, CTAC absorbed the Duncan Community Concert Series. Flesher played a key role in transforming the once-declining series into Live from the Center, now one of the state’s fastest growing concert series. Through her vast network of civic, religious and service organizations, she secures complementary tickets for those in the community who would otherwise be unable to attend. She served as grant writer for the Little Theatre for six years resulting in the organization regaining a solid financial footing and increasing community support by multiplying in- kind donations.

In 2006, Flesher was honored with Duncan Chamber of Commerce and Industry “Woman of the Year” award. In 2000, she made her debut quite by accident in a community theater production of “Annie” as Miss Hannigan at Duncan Little Theatre. Since then she has produced, worked as properties manager and assistant and appeared in numerous other productions.

Flesher has been a Registered Nurse for 30 years and has recently finished her MS in Nursing Education from Oklahoma University College of Nursing. She received the prestigious “Power of Nursing – Award for Excellence in Nursing” in April 2009 from the OU College of Nursing. She is also adjunct faculty at Duncan Regional Hospital for Western Oklahoma State College in the clinical setting for freshmen students.

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.

---End---