Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity; Lee District Supervisor Jeffrey C. McKay; Congressman Gerry Connolly; Jinx Hazel Arts Awardee Earle C. Williams; Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Sharon Bulova; president & CEO of the Arts Council Linda S. Sullivan; Arts Awards Event chair Richard Goldberg; and Arts Awards Event sponsor Daniel A. D’Aniello. Photo contributed
On Friday, Oct. 30, the Arts Council of Fairfax County presented its fourth annual Arts Awards to a full house. The Arts Awards honorees and guest speakers delivered inspirational speeches to over 400 guests from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The 2015 Arts Awards were presented to Earle C. Williams (Jinx Hazel Arts Award); Rebecca Kamen (Arts Achievement Award); Vienna Jammers (Emerging Arts Award); and Richard Hausler of Insight Property Group LLC (Arts Philanthropy Award).
A common thread ran through the Arts Awards ceremony this year as honorees and elected officials hailed public-private partnerships and civic collaboration as drivers for enhancing communities and lives.
Linda S. Sullivan, President and CEO of the Arts Council of Fairfax County, said, “The Arts Council is proud to shine a light on the extraordinary contributions made by artists, arts organizations, and the civic leaders who support them. It was great fun to share this year’s awardee achievements with over 400 attendees.”
Both the Center for Education at Wolf Trap and the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton are products of public-private partnerships and collaboration serving as arts destinations in their communities and the region. STEAM pioneer Rebecca Kamen’s ability to bridge the arts and education with chemistry, neuroscience, and astrophysics and the Vienna Jammers, who have reached out to new audiences using global percussion music, demonstrate how the arts can be used as a catalyst and connector.
Each awardee referenced their own beliefs about the arts and source of inspiration during their acceptance speeches.
According Earle C. Williams, 2015 Jinx Hazel Arts awardee, who led a successful capital campaign that resulted in the building of the Center for Education at Wolf Trap, the arts are a necessity: “The arts are important to Fairfax County and an integral part of the soul of a community. There is no replacement for it.”
Richard Hausler, 2015 Arts Philanthropy awardee provided the vision and seed funding in the planning stages to the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. He said: “The Workhouse is a gem anchored by artists, studios, and activities. It is a place which enriches [the community] and brings people together from different backgrounds.”
Rebecca Kamen, 2015 Arts Achievement awardee, stressed how she overcame the challenges of dyslexia by developing new means of seeing and perceiving environments and relationships.
“My ability as a contemporary visual artist to connect, transform, and ripple out has impacted others in exciting and extraordinary ways. What appeared to be a learning obstacle at a young age has turned into an incredible opportunity in terms of creating new bridges of understanding between the fields of art and science.”
David L. Reynolds Jr., artistic director of the Vienna Jammers, 2015 Emerging Arts Awardee, shared his group’s core belief with the audiences: “Besides giving children a comprehensive musical experience, the Jammers aim to share their art with as many people as possible, and in doing so enrich the quality of life and build community.”
The Arts Awards have been held annually in late October since 2012.