press releases

For Immediate Release

New York, June 20, 2006 — Arts & Business Council of New York, a division of Americans for the Arts, holds its 41st Annual Encore Awards today at Cipriani 42nd Street. The awards recognize successful collaborative projects between nonprofit arts organizations and businesses in New York, as well as excellence in arts management and outstanding business volunteerism.

This year’s event features a special performance by acclaimed Spanish flamenco company Noche Flamenca. Legendary jazz artist Dr. Billy Taylor, founding chairman of Arts & Business Council, will present a tribute to Sibyl Simon, founder of Arts & Business Council, who passed away in May.

2006 Tony Award nominee Kate Burton will serve as mistress of ceremonies.

The 41st Encore Award winners are as follows:

Corporate Hall of Fame Award

• Altria Group, Inc. is the inaugural member of Arts & Business Council of New York’s Corporate Hall of Fame. This designation celebrates exemplary leadership in support of the arts by a company over time and across disciplines, and through numerous partnerships and projects. For nearly 50 years, the Altria family of companies has strengthened communities by fostering innovation, creativity, excellence, and diversity in the arts. Altria has contributed more than $210 million to arts organizations across the nation and around the world. This support has made it possible for diverse artists to thrive and for new and expanded audiences to have access to the arts.

Arts & Business Partnership Awards

• Queens Theatre in the Park and JPMorgan Chase
  JPMorgan Chase’s title sponsorship of the JPMorgan Chase Latino Cultural Festival—an initiative created to celebrate and showcase the contributions of Latin American artists to the cultural life of New York City—aided Queens Theatre in the Park (QTP) in presenting what is today the nation’s largest Latino multi-disciplinary cultural festival. The Festival features a combination of music, theatre, dance, film and children’s productions, as well as visual art exhibitions. JPMorgan Chase’s commitment gave QTP the time and resources to focus on artistic and developmental growth, enabling them to move ahead with their 10th anniversary celebration.
• Leaves of Grass Literary Festival
  The 2005 Leaves of Grass Literary Festival, organized by the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, the American Opera Projects, and the Walt Whitman Project, celebrated the sesquicentennial of the publication of the first edition of Walt Whitman’s masterpiece, Leaves of Grass. The daylong Leaves of Grass celebration of poets and poetry took place in Fort Greene Park and along Myrtle Avenue. Twenty businesses were a vital component of the festival as they opened up their spaces for the day to serve as performance and artistic venues. Stores blended their regular activities as cafes, restaurants, ice cream parlors, framing shops, along with artistic activities such as poetry, music, and photo exhibitions.

Arts Management Excellence Award

• Todd Haimes is artistic director of Roundabout Theatre Company, where he has served for 23 years. A graduate of the Yale School of Management, Todd was only 26-years-old when Roundabout’s Board of Directors brought him on as Managing Director in 1983. His first year on the job, Todd worked on average 120-hour weeks and, by the end of 1983, had turned around a $600,000 annual shortfall into a surplus of several hundred thousand dollars. Once Roundabout had achieved a level of financial stability, Todd focused on securing permanent theatres for the company. Since 2000, he aided Roundabout in successfully completing a $25 million renovation of the old Selwyn Theatre on 42nd Street, as well as securing the famed Studio 54 and Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center. As Roundabout Theatre Company celebrates its 40th Anniversary this season, the company has grown from a small Off-Broadway theatre to one of the largest not-for-profit Broadway theatres in the country.

Business Volunteer of the Year Award

• Lisa Frigand is a dedicated volunteer and Board Member for the Alliance of Resident Theatres/ New York (A.R.T./ New York), as well as program manager for economic development and liaison to Lower Manhattan for Con Edison. For A.R.T/New York, Lisa plays an active role in fundraising and is the key point person for projects the organization is implementing to help lower the energy costs of all not-for-profit theatres in New York City. She is also on the Advisory Boards of 3-Legged Dog, Franklin Furnace Archive and Materials for the Arts, among others. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board for the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.
  
  The Corporate Hall of Fame award is selected by a survey of more than 200 Arts & Business Council of New York member arts organizations. All other Encore honorees are chosen by an independent jury consisting of leaders representing the business and arts sectors, from nominations submitted by the field.
  
  The 2006 Encore Awards are sponsored by: Altria Group, Inc., American Express, Con Edison, Deutsche Bank, The McGraw-Hill Companies, WABC-TV, and Wachovia.

Arts & Business Council of New York, a division of Americans for the Arts, stimulates partnerships between business and the arts that strengthen the New York State community. It is committed to joining the resources and reducing the distinction between arts and business, by serving both communities with programming in volunteerism, professional development, leadership development, and economic impact. Established as a result of the merger of operations with Americans for the Arts in 2005, Arts & Business Council of New York brings to its work the legacy and knowledge of 40 years of serving the community, now combined with the resources, history, and reputation of Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America.