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Awards 2008: Taking it to the Streets
Highlights
The Arts & Business Council Awards 2008 was a celebration of the following award honorees who “took it to the streets ” with their dedication, creativity and leadership.
AVATAR AWARD FOR ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE
Lisa Scottoline, Winner of the 2008 Avatar Award for Artistic Excellence
Lisa Scottoline was honored with the prestigious Avatar Award for achieving artistic excellence, garnering worldwide acclaim and serving as an inspiration to the community.
Lisa Scottoline's distinguished career as a writer has put Philadelphia on the map in each of her 15 best-selling novels. She writes a weekly column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and has won many awards, including the Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. She teaches Justice and Fiction at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and appears in Court TV's new crime series, "Murder By The Book." Bringing creativity and passion to her work, Lisa continuously demonstrates a strong commitment to her hometown of Philadelphia and an overwhelming enthusiasm for writing.
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ored by:
G. FRED DIBONA, JR. INDIVIDUAL LEADERSHIP AWARD
Diane Dalto Woosnam, Winner of the 2008 G. Fred DiBona, Jr. Individual Leadership Award
Diane Dalto Woosnam was recognized for her significant leadership through her dedication to and vision for the region.
Diane has maintained a leadership role in the region through her appointment as the chair of the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts in Harrisburg in 2003. In her brief tenure at the Council, she has streamlined the Council's initiatives, resulting in more funding going directly to the region's arts organizations; she has championed and won significant budget increases to the Council in 3 of the last 4 years; she has increased support to arts in education programs as well as artists fellowships.
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BUSINESS/ARTS PARTNERSHIP AWARDS
The Business/Arts Partnership Award recognizes a successful partnership between a business and an arts or cultural organization in two categories: a partnership between a small or mid-size business (annual revenues less than $250 million) with an arts organization; a partnership between a major business (annual revenues exceeding $250 million) with an arts organization.
BUSINESS/ARTS PARTNERSHIP AWARD: SMALL TO MID-SIZED BUSINESS
Michael Norris, executive director, Art-Reach (left), Teddy Bowens, store manager, Sneakervilla (center), winners of the Small to Mid-Sized Business/Arts Partnership Award, Lyn Strickler, executive vice president & managing director, Harmelin Media, sponsor (right)
Art-Reach and Sneaker Villa collaborated on a community-based, socially-conscious arts project in North Philadelphia . The project brought together a group of students from William Penn High School and gave them an opportunity to create a positive response to the violence that affects our city. Over the course of 12 weeks, the students created original designs with an anti-violence theme and silk-screened them onto T-shirts. All of the finished designs were reviewed by a panel of experts in violence prevention, youth entrepreneurship, and fashion design and retailing. The winning design (“Turn Your Brain On…And Violence Off”) was mass-produced and sold at Sneaker Villa on North Broad Street, with proceeds benefiting the school.
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BUSINESS/ARTS PARTNERSHIP AWARD: LARGE BUSINESS
Left to right: Mr. Carl Dranoff, Founder & CEO of Dranoff Properties, winner of the 2008 Large Business/Arts Partnership Award; Ms. Sara Garonzik, producing artistic director, Philadelphia Theatre Company, winner of the 2008 Large Business/Arts Partnership Award; Jerry Maginnis, office managing partner, KPMG LLP, sponsor; Jerry Riesenbach, Board President, Philadelphia Theatre Company
The goal of the Philadelphia Theatre Company/Dranoff Properties partnership was to design Philadelphia Theatre Company's new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, a state-of-the-art 365 seat theater and second stage education center, as part of the Symphony House Project.
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The following awards recognize outstanding contributions of active volunteers in all five Council programs.
BVA VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
Heather Newcomb, Vice President, Sage Communications Partners, winner of the 2008 Business Volunteer for the Arts Volunteer of the Year Award
Over two years, Heather worked with Astral Artists to conduct market research, develop a positioning statement, and build a Marketing Communications Plan. She was instrumental in helping the organization reestablish its identity and create plans to strategically promote its programs and services.
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TECHNOLOGY CONNECTORS VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
Jeffrey Green, Owner, Savant Technology Consulting, winner of the 2008 Technology Connectors Volunteer of the Year Award
Jeff worked with multiple arts organizations including the Arts and Spirituality Center, Philadelphia Singers, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Moonstone Inc., and the Village of Arts and Humanities. He produced detailed reports on their current states of technology, worked with key staff and the organization's strategic plans to create a set of recommendations for replacement and new equipment, and assisted some organizations by configuring computers and helping them gain Internet connectivity.
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BUSINESS ON CALL VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
Glynis Jones, Sales & Service Specialist, PNC Bank, winner of the 2008 Business On Call Volunteer of the Year Award
As Business On Call company captain, Glynis acts as a liaison to the Arts & Business Council at PNC Bank by answering questions, providing information and helping to recruit and retain Business On Call volunteers. She provides valuable communication through email, interoffice mail or that extra phone call that enables the Arts & Business Council staff to have quality and frequent contact with Business On Call volunteers at PNC Bank.
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PHILADELPHIA VOLUNTEER LAWYERS FOR THE ARTS (PVLA) VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Michael Costa, III, Esq., counsel, Comcast Corporation (left) and Steven Kim, Esq., Ballard Spahr Andrews and Ingersoll, LLP (right), winners of the 2008 Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Volunteer of the Year Award
The team at Ballard was instrumental in helping independent filmmaker, Ben Herold on a First Person Documentary Project. They tackled intellectual property issues including the development of composer licenses and work-for-hire agreements, as well as negotiations of music clearances. Michael and Steven were the lead attorneys on the project determining what work needed to be done for the client and enlisting firm resources when necessary.
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BUSINESS ON BOARD MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Edward Mayer, Esquire, Principal & Owner, Mayer & Associates Intellectual Capitalists, winner of the 2008 Business On Board Member of the Year Award
After participating in the BOB program in 2005, Ed was elected to the Board of Directors of the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial in 2006. He began his tenure with a technology focus and has currently turned his attention to marketing/development for the organization. Ed was selected to head the Development and Marketing committee beginning Fall 2007 because of the enthusiasm he brought to this area. The committee has since become more dedicated to getting the entire board more engaged with fund- and friendraising.
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 Awards 2008 |
 We took it to the streets with entertainment around every corner |
 Dancers from Illstyle & Peace Productions |
 Karen Davis, President & CEO of the Arts & Business Council (left), and Tom Woodward, Pennsylvania State President of Bank of America and Awards 2008 Chairman (right) |
 Drummers from Voices of Africa |
 Arts & Business Council's President & CEO Karen Davis (left), Avatar Award for Artist Excellence winner Lisa Scottoline (center), and Arts & Business Council's Board Chairman Steve Aichele (right) |
 Performers from Cirque du Soleil's KOOZA |