Americans for the Arts announced today the recipients of the 2019 Americans for the Arts Leadership Awards. Given annually, these awards recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations committed to enriching their communities through the arts. This year’s awards recipients are: 

“These tremendous leaders have distinguished themselves as passionate advocates for the arts and arts education,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “They have implemented innovative and transformative programs to strengthen the communities they serve and build recognition for the important work of the arts. Their unwavering commitment to local, state, and national support for the arts is deserving of this recognition.”

 

The award ceremony is open to the press and will take place during Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, on Saturday, June 15, 2019, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 

 

 

Roberto Bedoya, Public Art Network Award

Bedoya is the Cultural Affairs Manager for the city of Oakland, CA. His career-long commitment to expanding the definition of inclusion and belonging, as well as to art-based civic engagement projects, have made him a leader in the national conversation about the arts in public life. In his current work, Bedoya shepherded the city's Cultural Plan, “Belonging in Oakland: A Cultural Development Plan.” Bedoya's essays, “U.S. Cultural Policy: Its Politics of Participation, Its Creative Potential” and “Creative Placemaking and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-Belonging,” reframed the discussion on cultural policy to shed light on exclusionary practices in cultural policy decision making. In his previous position as Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council (TPAC), Bedoya established the innovative P.L.A.C.E (People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement) Initiative to support artist initiatives, and during his tenure as Executive Director of the National Association of Artists’ Organizations (NAAO), from 1996 to 2001, he developed numerous initiatives in support of artist-led alternative spaces. Bedoya is a poet whose work has appeared in numerous publications, and an art consultant with projects for Creative Capital Foundation, the Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Urban Institute. Bedoya is a Creative Placemaking Fellow at Arizona State University.

 

Julie Garreau, Arts Education Award

Garreau is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and is the executive director of the Cheyenne River Youth Project. She has been CRYP’s director since the organization’s 1988 inception, volunteering in the position for 12 years. She began working for the organization full-time in 2000. A graduate of South Dakota’s Huron University, Garreau was the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s education services specialist for 15 years, and during that time she served for five years on the CRST Police Commission – three of those years as chairperson. Most recently, she and her staff launched the innovative, groundbreaking Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Lakota Arts Institute, Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park and RedCan Graffiti Jam (recipient of Americans for the Arts’ 2017 Robert E. Gard Award) at the CRYP campus. Garreau enlisted the help of an advisory council consisting of artists and art directors from around South Dakota and beyond to help with planning and curriculum development. The Institute includes daily arts classes, arts and culture camps, arts internships, arts fellowships and the RedCan graffiti jam.

 

Stephanie Johnson-Cunningham, American Express Emerging Leaders Award

Johnson-Cunningham is a museum professional and arts educator based in Brooklyn, New York, and implements learning methodologies at the New-York Historical Society, the Brooklyn Museum, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. She has served as a museum educator for children and adult audiences, as well as a lecturer at the School of Visual Arts, City College of New York, and New Jersey City University. Johnson-Cunningham co-founded and serves as creative director of Museum Hue. They host monthly guided experiences at cultural institutions with art administrators and offer workshops to impart skills useful in the field. Johnson-Cunningham is a recipient of the Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship for Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute and the Racial Equity in the Arts Fellowship for Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation. As a Board Member for the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable, she strived to strengthen their viability and reach to a broader network. Johnson-Cunningham holds a Bachelor’s in Art and Art History from Brooklyn College and a Master’s in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies from Rutgers University.

 

Margie Johnson Reese, Selina Roberts Ottum Award

Reese is a life-long advocate for access to the arts. She has more than 40 years’ experience as an arts administrator, more than 17 of those heading a local arts agency. Reese’s reputation as an arts leader was established within some of the field’s largest public institutions, including service as Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs for the City of Dallas and General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Her expertise was tapped by the Ford Foundation to advance cultural projects in West Africa – her portfolio centered on cultural policy development and conservation of West Africa’s cultural heritage. Today, she is leading a venture to establish the Wichita Falls Alliance for Arts and Culture, a burgeoning local arts agency in west Texas, as its executive director. Reese is an adjunct faculty member at Goucher College and actively mentors arts leaders across the country. She has served on boards of numerous organizations, most notably as a 25-year member of the board of Americans for the Arts. A native of Baton Rouge, Reese holds a Bachelor’s from Washington State University and an MFA in Theater from Trinity University.

 

George Tzougros, Michael Newton Award

Tzougros is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Arts Board, the state agency which nurtures creativity, cultivates expression, promotes the arts, supports the arts in education, stimulates community and economic development, and serves as a resource for people of every culture and heritage. Tzougros works with the creative industries, Wisconsin Arts Board members and staff, the Governor, and state legislature to create funding programs and services to meet the needs of the people of Wisconsin. Tzougros is a member of the Governor’s Council on Tourism and the Cultural Coalition of Wisconsin; chair of the National Creativity Network; co-founder of the Wisconsin Science Festival; and a board member of the Robert E. Gard Wisconsin Idea Foundation. He was also a Past President of Wisconsin/Chiba Incorporated and Film Wisconsin. Tzougros has served as Executive Director of the Arts Board since 1996 and prior to that he served as Assistant Director, and was responsible for arts education, community arts development, and presenting and touring. He holds a Bachelor’s in Theater from Carroll University and a Master’s in Business - Arts Administration from the Wisconsin School of Business. 

 

Matt Wilson, Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award

For seven years, Wilson directed MASSCreative, the statewide advocacy voice for Massachusetts’ arts, cultural, and creative community. Since its founding in 2012, MASSCreative has grown to more than 400 organizational members with 25,000 individuals taking part in public education and advocacy actions. Since 2013, MASSCreative’s campaigns have helped increase operational and capital investment into the Commonwealth’s arts and cultural community by 80 percent. Its advocacy work with the Arts for All Coalition help implement state policies to increase access and participation to quality arts education. MASSCreative has coordinated more than 35 nonpartisan Create the Vote campaigns to help inject the issues of arts and culture into mayoral, gubernatorial and state legislative races across the Commonwealth. Prior to MASSCreative, Wilson led campaigns for a cleaner environment, affordable and accessible health care, to fight corporate power, and to elect progressive government leaders. Wilson graduated from Dartmouth College in 1983 and also earned a Master of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2008.

 

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 55 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

 

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Contact:

Inga Vitols

202-371-2830

[email protected]