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First Lady Judge Rendell Announces 2009 Governor's Awards for the Arts Will Be in York

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 April 2009, 14:30 CDT

Ceremony to be held Oct. 1 at York's Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell today announced that the 2009 Governor's Awards for the Arts will take place Oct. 1 at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York.

"It has become a cultural tradition that each community hosting the Governor's Awards for the Arts be named the 'Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth' for the day of the event," said Judge Rendell, who was joined in the announcement by Pennsylvania Council on the Arts chairman Diane Dalto and executive director Philip Horn. "It seems only fitting that York, once the capital of our nation, will claim this new title on October 1. On behalf of the Governor, we are very proud to add York to the list of Pennsylvania communities that can claim this special honor."

With the selection of York as this year's venue, Governor Edward G. Rendell continues the tradition of holding the awards in a different location each year. Past host cities have included Williamsport, Greensburg, Wilkes-Barre, Gettysburg, Reading, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Altoona.

Moving the ceremony each year allows new regions of the state to share in this celebration of the arts and their contributions to the vitality of Pennsylvania. It also provides the host region the opportunity to showcase their unique cultural assets to an audience that draws cultural leaders from across the state.

The Governor's Awards for the Arts recognize artistic accomplishments in five categories: a distinguished arts award, a patron award, the outstanding leadership & service for youth/arts in education award, the Pennsylvania creative community award, and the artist of the year award (The Hazlett Memorial). Past recipients have included Jimmy Stewart, Marian Anderson, Andrew Wyeth, James Michener, Chaim Potok, Peter Nero, Fred Rogers, M. Night Shyamalan, Marilyn Horne, Lang Lang, August Wilson, Nelson Shanks, Santo Loquasto, Rob and Kathleen Marshall, and Michael Keaton.

Award recipients are identified through an open call to the public for nominations. A panel that includes members of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts reviews the nominations and makes recommendations. For more about the 2009 nomination process, visit the PCA's Web site, www.pacouncilonthearts.org.

The Governor's Awards for the Arts are administered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency under the Office of the Governor, whose mission it is to foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania, and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state.

The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit www.governor.state.pa.us.

CONTACT: Heather Doughty, Arts Council 717-787-1517 717-512-8730 (cell)

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

Source: PR Newswire

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