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
SADLER ARTS ACADEMY 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.
Sadler Arts Academy was born out of necessity in 1996. The former school, Sadler Elementary, was on the state’s high challenge list and due to be closed by the State Department of Education if test scores did not improve.
Now, 13 years later, Sadler Arts Academy leads Muskogee Public Schools in academic achievement, and student and teacher attendance. Since its inception Sadler has produced seven National Board Certified Teachers, three Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Winners, one Milken Family Foundation Winner, one Readers Digest Hero in American Education, one Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, one National Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year and one Governor’s Arts Award Winner. Sadler was a finalist for the Oklahoma Center for Non-Profits ONE Award in 2007, and received the Oklahoma Business Circle for the Arts Leadership Award.
At Sadler, the arts are infused into daily course work and the halls are lined with student art works. Every nine weeks art cluster groups are held throughout the school. The past year’s theme was Impressionist Art and the French theme pervaded all parent/student/teacher activities with French foods, costumes, music and art filling the school. This year’s theme is “New York, New York, You’re a Wonderful Town” and will feature works of American artists who set the trend for America’s rise to preeminence in the art world after World War II. Jackson Pollack and other abstract expressionists will engage students in an exploration of modern art and America’s place in the movement.
Sadler’s signature piece is “Nutcracker,” which is presented five times during the Christmas season to a combined audience of 3500. The performances involve over 200 students and is orchestrated and choreographed by teachers, dance instructors and visiting dancers. For the past few years, The Harlem Nutcracker has been performed, giving students a diverse perspective and broadening their knowledge base in the area of both Harlem Renaissance artists, musicians and writers, and jazz music in general.
At Sadler Arts Academy, students know this is a place to come to explore art and academics in a safe and loving environment in which they are free to experiment.
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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