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
OKLAHOMA ARTS INSTITUTE TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD
The Oklahoma Arts Institute, Norman, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 34th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. The Oklahoma Arts Institute will receive the Arts & Education Award that recognizes an individual, organization, school, educator or group for their outstanding leadership and service in the arts benefitting youth and/or arts in education. Accepting the award will be Oklahoma Arts Institute President Julie Cohen.
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 Oklahoma Arts Institute is a private, non-profit organization with a vision to cultivate established and emerging artists and educators through art workshops, immersion and awareness. Since 1977, the Oklahoma Arts Institute has recruited nationally renowned artists to teach a fine arts program for talented Oklahoma youth and a series of continuing education workshops for adults.
The Oklahoma Arts Institute, a vision of then-Governor David Boren, was founded in response to concerned parents voicing the need for quality arts education for Oklahoma's artistically talented young people. In 1977, organizers launched a three-day pilot program that provided 100 Oklahoma high school students with intensive arts training in five disciplines. The first Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Camp Egan near Tahlequah was a resounding success.
In 1978, the Summer Institute was expanded to a two-week program, serving 200 students studying acting, ballet, choral music, drawing/painting, modern dance, orchestral music, photography, poetry, and sculpture with renowned artists. The program was relocated to Quartz Mountain State Park, now the Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center in Lone Wolf, the permanent home of Institute programs.
Oklahoma high school students are now selected through a statewide competitive audition process for a two-week, intensive arts academy every summer.
As students form friendships, meet mentors and hone their skills, they make memories of Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute (OSAI) that last a lifetime. Many alumni enjoy successful artistic careers, while others choose different career paths. Whether OSAI alumni pursue the arts or not, they undoubtedly credit their experiences with giving them the discipline and self-confidence they need to become successful, well-rounded citizens. This year, 271 new OSAI students joined the talented, worldwide network of OSAI alumni.
Since 1983, over 5,000 educators and adult artists have attended the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain (OFAI). Each fall, master artists teach a series of four-day weekend retreats in the literary, visual, and performing arts. Many OFAI participants pass on the knowledge they gained at Quartz Mountain to thousands of Oklahoma schoolchildren. Amateur and professional artists who attend OFAI enrich the artistic culture of the region and the nation.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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