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

LAWTON CONSTITUTION TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD

Oklahoma City, OK – The Lawton Constitution will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 34th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. The Lawton Constitution will receive a Media in the Arts Award that recognizes a member of the media who demonstrates commitment to the arts in Oklahoma documented through public awareness support and fairness, initiative, creativity and professionalism in reporting. This award was created in memory of Bill Crawford, veteran professional journalist who worked at the Lawton Constitution for 25 years. Accepting the award will be Styles Editor Charles Clark, a previous winner of a Governor's Arts Award himself.

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 Lawton Constitution is known far and wide as a newspaper that supports the arts. The late owner and publisher of The Lawton Constitution Bill Bentley, along with his wife, the late Shirley Shepler Bentley, who co-owned the Lawton Publishing Co., started a tradition that has continued for more than half a century. It is a tradition that has continued with their sons, the current co-publishers, Donald and Stephen Bentley.

While most newspapers have limitations, The Lawton Constitution has always maintained an arts staff and has two to seven pages available for arts coverage daily, and its own cover and section each Friday and Sunday. With Lawton’s vibrant arts community, there is a wealth of arts stories to cover including events sponsored by the city staffed Lawton Arts & Humanities Division, Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, Lawton Community Theatre, a ballet company and numerous dance studios of all kinds, the Leslie Powell Gallery, Museum of the Great Plains, major festivals, and Cameron University with arts, music and theater departments that is involved with the community.

Coverage of the arts has in recent years brought honors to the Lawton Constitution with multiple awards from the Associated Press, the Oklahoma Press Association, Frontier Country, the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association, the Lawton Arts & Humanities Council, and more. The Lawton Constitution plans to continue its coverage of the arts throughout Southwest Oklahoma.

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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