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Four Honored At 30th Annual Arts Awards
For Immediate Release
Release Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, FL—Over 470 people gathered on April 11 to honor four local arts supporters and to celebrate the theme “Arts Education: Where Creativity Takes Flight.” The 30th Annual Arts Awards luncheon was held on the stage of the Moran Theater at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts. The awards were presented by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and sponsored by AmSouth Bank.
Bruce Dempsey received the Individual Arts Award for leading some of Jacksonville’s most important arts initiatives. Dempsey has been a gifted resource for the arts community for more than 30 years. He is director of the J. Johnson Gallery in Jacksonville Beach, which was recently recognized as one of the world’s up-and-coming art galleries at the international art fair, ARCO. Demsey is a founding member of the Airport Art Commission and recently helped acquire the large-scale sculpture “Hoy es Hoy” by Mexican artist Javier Marin for the Jacksonville International Airport. As director of the Jacksonville Art Museum, Demsey launched some of the largest exhibitions including Andrew Wyeth and Ramses II and helped build the museum’s impressive permanent collection.
The Corporate Award was presented to Fidelity National Financial (FNF). Upon relocating its headquarters to Jacksonville in 2003, Fidelity established philanthropic relationships with several area cultural organizations including the Jacksonville Symphony, The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, and the Cathedral Arts Project (CAP). With its focus on arts education, FNF has invested both financial and volunteer resources in developing CAP, which with help from Fidelity, now reaches 1,000 at-risk students through after-school programs. Most recently FNF made it possible for CAP to participate in a research demonstration project with the State of Florida by providing the required cash match. The program will allow CAP to design measurement tools to evaluate how children perform academically after participating in arts education programs.
Deborah McDuffie was named the 2006 Arts Educator for her work as the choral director at Paxon School for Advanced Studies, the director for the all-city choir the Ritz Voices, and the founder of the Northeast Florida Foundation of the Arts. Her work as an educator follows a notable career in the recording industry, having worked with artists including Al Green, Janet Jackson, and Luther Vandross, to name a few. Under her direction the Ritz Voices has received numerous honors and awards including First Place at the McDonald’s Gospelfest in New York City. McDuffie was tapped by the NFL to produce two sanctioned events for Super Bowl XXXIX, and she helped develop the popular “Ritz Amateur Night.”
The Small Business Award was presented to Fogle Fine Art Gallery, located at 3312 Beach Blvd. in St. Nicholas. Leigh and Brian Fogle have opened the doors of the gallery to many area nonprofits to create fundraising events which also increase awareness of Jacksonville artists. One such event, Patrons of the Heart, raises funds to bring children from Third World countries to Jacksonville for heart operations. In its first year, the event raised more than $60,000. The Fogles have also consulted with Shands Jacksonville, Baptist South and the Baptist Heart Clinic to bring more art into the facilities to promote a healing environment.
Keynote remarks were offered by Jane Sapp, who shared her experiences of working with at-risk youth around the country and her efforts to advance community change through music and education. Duval County Schools Superintendent Joseph Wise, Ph.D. also offered remarks in support of more arts programs for area students. Each winner received an original piece of artwork created by Jacksonville sculptor Gail Beveridge. The Cultural Council presents the Arts Awards annually to recognize extraordinary contributions to the growth of the arts in Jacksonville.
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville works to advance the appreciation and expression of art and culture by increasing community awareness of cultural activities and issues; providing arts education programs; and offering funding and technical assistance to cultural organizations and individual artists.
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