"Champions of the Arts" Award Winners - Recent Past and Present
Municipal Leadership Award
Sponsored by Hunt Alternatives Fund
Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent of Schools, Boston Public Schools
Outstanding Student Advocate Award
Sponsored by Hunt Alternatives Fund
Ahmed Najm, Boston University
A|L Arts in Education Service Award
Sandra and Philip Gordon
Superior Arts Collaborative
CultureLEAP, Worcester, MA
Outstanding Arts Collaborative:
• Performing Arts: Citi Performing Arts Center
• Theatre: Teatro Vida
• Dance: Over the Top Ballroom Dance Project
• Visual Arts: Discovery Club-Haverhill Public Schools
Excellence in School Administration Arts Advocate
Vera Baker, Springfield Public Schools
Distinguished Arts Educator Awards:
Dennis Wrenn Distinguished Music Educator
David Adams, Gloucester High School
Distinguised Dance Educator
Rondae Drafts, UMass and Television Workshop
Distinguished Theater Educator
Lynda Robinson, Media Performance Institute
Distinguished Visual Arts Educator
Marsha Hanby, Plymouth Public Schools
Media Support of Arts Education
“Chronicle,” WCVB Channel 5, Boston, Chris Stirling, Executive Producer
Massachusetts School Committee Arts Advocate
Westborough Public Schools
School of Distinction in Arts Education
Boston Arts Academy, Boston, Massachusetts. Arts|Learning is thrilled that the BAA is a 2010 winner of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts School of Distinction Award in Arts Education for 2010!
Irene Buck Service to Arts Education
Kathy Tosolini, Plymouth Public Schools
Legislative Leadership Award
Senator Robert O’Leary of Barnstable
Representative John Keenan of Salem
Municipal Leadership Award
Sponsored by Hunt Alternatives Fund
E. Denise Simmons, Mayor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Outstanding Student Advocate Awards
Sponsored by the Hunt Alternatives Fund
Juwonni “Jay” Cottle, Boston Arts Academy, Theatre
Ashley Leuci, Douglas High School, Visual Art
The NALC Award
Ann McQueen, Senior Program Officer, The Boston Foundation, Boston, Massachusetts
Distinguished Community Arts Collaborative
Kidspace at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts; Shannon Toye, Education Coordinator; Laura Thompson, Director of Exhibitions and Education
Excellence in School Administration
Dr. John Michael Gray, Coordinator of Fine Arts (Retired), Newton Public Schools
Distinguished Arts Educator Awards:
Recognition of the Dennis Wrenn Family:
Elizabeth Johnson, Scott Wrenn, Jessica Wrenn-Still, Elizabeth Nichols
Dennis Wrenn Distinguished Music Educator
Rosalba Solis, Rafael Hernández School, K-8 Music Teacher
Distinguished Theater Educator
Kevin G. Coleman, Shakespeare & Company, Director of Education
Distinguished Visual Arts Educator
Leslie MacWeeney, Visual Arts Educator; Founder and Executive Director of the Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts (Dot Art)
Corporate/Business Support of Arts Education
Covidien, Mansfield, Massachusetts, Richard Meelia, President and CEO
Media Support of Arts Education
From the Top, Boston, Massachusetts, Jennifer Hurley-Wales and Gerald Slavet, Co-CEOs
Irene Buck Service to Arts Education
Lurline Muñoz-Bennett, Arts and Equity Coordinator, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Outstanding Legislator Award
Edward M. Kennedy, United States Senior Senator from Massachusetts
2008 Award Winners
- Irene Buck Service to Arts Education
- Klare Shaw, The Barr Foundation, Boston
- Legislative Leadership Award
- State Senator Mark C. Montigny, New Bedford
- Media Support of Arts Education
- WGBH, Jonathan C. Abbott, President and CEO (Received by Marita Rivera, Vice President and General Manager for Radio and Television)
- Distinguished Community Arts Collaborative:
- Southeastern Massachusetts Arts Collaborative (SMARTS), Attleboro, Sherye Weisz, Executive Director
- Outstanding Cultural Institution
- Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, Katherine French, Director and Pat Walker, Director of Education
- Distinguished Music Educator
- James Barret, Jefferson Elementary School, Franklin
- Outstanding Parent Advocate
- Judy Wilchynski, President, Westborough Music Parent’s Association
- Outstanding Student Leader Award
- Angeiris Encarnacion, Ritmo En Accion, Hyde Square Task Force
- (Co-sponsored by MAEC, NALC and Hunt Alternatives Fund)
- Municipal Arts Leadership Award
- Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Boston
- (Co-sponsored by NALC and Hunt Alternatives Fund)
