Press Release from the
Tennessee Arts Commission
March 19, 2009
Governor’s Arts Award Recipients Announced
Awards will be presented on April 14 at the
War Memorial Auditorium
NASHVILLE - - Tennessee’s
highest honor in the arts will be awarded April 14 to eight recipients
that exemplify the state’s finest cultural traditions. Established in
1971, the Governor’s Arts Awards will be presented by
Governor Phil Bredesen and First
Lady Andrea Conte in a special ceremony produced by the Tennessee
Arts Commission.
“The 2009 recipients represent the very best from the
state’s arts community,” says Rich Boyd, executive director of the
Commission. “The awards recognize the highest excellence and the public
value of the arts in Tennessee.”
Recipients were selected from 56 nominees to receive
awards in three different categories. The Folklife Heritage Award
recognizes folk artists or organizations that have made outstanding
contributions to artistic tradition. The award is intended to honor
long-term achievements within art forms that are rooted in the traditional
culture of Tennessee.
Receiving Folklife Heritage Awards are
Robert Belfour of Memphis, a powerful blues singer and guitarist
who represents the folk blues tradition of the Mid-South region;
Charles J. Horner, who lives outside of Rockwood in the Westel
community of Cumberland County , is a renowned maker of fiddles and
mandolins; and Newberry & Sons Chairs,
whose Macon County family tradition preserves much of the 19th century
approach to chairmaking.
Arts Leadership Awards will be presented to
Jack Murrah of Chattanooga, and Molly
Leach Pratt of Nashville. Recipients in this category
may come from arts organizations, business, educators, patrons, arts
administrators, corporations, or volunteers who have demonstrated
significant support or participation in activities which foster excellence
in, appreciation of, or access to the arts throughout the state.
For over 30 years, Jack Murrah led Chattanooga, the
state, and region in forceful new directions in art and culture. He
influenced the way Tennesseans live in cities, how children are educated,
and how artists are supported. Through his work with the Lyndhurst
Foundation in Chattanooga, his grant making has been bold, creative,
wide-ranging and change oriented, yet his vision, insights and guidance
have been just as important.
Molly Leach Pratt, an esteemed and enduring arts
advocate, has donated enormous amounts of personal and professional time
to arts-related causes. She has impacted the arts across the state by
completing a five-year term on the Tennessee Arts Commission, during which
time she served as secretary, vice-chair, and chair. She has also served
on the Metro Nashville Arts Commission as chair. She is currently serving
on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Board. The impact of her
advocacy and leadership will be felt in Tennessee and beyond for years to
come.
The Distinguished Artist Award recognizes
artists of exceptional talent and creativity in any discipline, who over
the course of a career, have contributed to the arts and have helped guide
and influence directions, trends, and aesthetic practices on a state or
national level.
Three outstanding Tennessee artists have been named as
recipients of the Distinguished Artist Award. They are:
John Baeder of Nashville, one of America’s most admired realist
painters, known for his paintings of isolated roadside diners and
eateries; Cherry Jones, born and raised
Paris, Tennessee, one of the foremost theater actresses in the United
States who currently portrays the first female president on the Fox
television series 24; and Bets Ramsey of
Nashville, who has a long distinguished career in the quilt world in many
roles as a curator, educator, historian, writer, project director,
organization founder, and award-winning fiber artist.
The recipients of the Governor’s Arts Awards will be
honored at an invitation-only reception on Tuesday, April 14 at the War
Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville. The awards will be presented
by Governor Phil Bredesen during a special ceremony later that evening.
