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
DONNA RINEHART-KEEVER TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD
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.
Donna Rinehart-Keever joined Allied Arts, a United Arts Fund that supports 20 member arts and cultural agencies in Central Oklahoma, as President and Chief Executive Officer in September 1999 and has just recently retired. During her tenure, Allied Arts raised over $20,000,000 for the arts through its annual campaign and special events over the past ten years.
Under her leadership during the current economic crisis, Allied Arts agencies realized more than $2.5 million in support for the coming year. In addition, she instituted critical competencies at Allied Arts by implementing a variety of business practices such as strategic planning, board development, succession planning and other management protocols. Her strong ties in the community allowed Allied Arts to forge important public and private partnerships to benefit the arts.
Rinehart-Keever was recognized by The Journal Record as one of the “Top 50 Women Making a Difference in Oklahoma,” in 1997 and 1998 and inducted into their “Circle of Excellence” program in 2004. High Noon, Inc., one of Oklahoma City’s professional and philanthropic organizations, recognized her as the 2006 Woman of the Year. She also received the Ken Arbuckle Fellow Award from Sales and Marketing Executives International.
Now a management consultant, Rinehart-Keever currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Cultural Development Corporation and is a member of the Cultural Campus Steering Committee.
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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