News Releases

Donna F. Bergheim of Alexandria, who served on the board of the Virginia Commission for the Arts from 1993 to 1998, and was an active Virginians for the Arts member, passed away on March 27, 2010. Dr. Bergheim, a devoted arts advocate, was a former Foreign Service Information Corps officer and former professor of English.

She was a major supporter of MetroStage, an award-winning professional theatre. She helped transform an old lumber warehouse into MetroStage's 150-seat professional theatre, which now bears her name. She was named a Living Legend of Alexandria in 2008-09, Donna was honored for her devotion to enriching Alexandria's artistic and cultural life.

She was an advisory panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts before being appointed to the board of the Commission by Governor L. Douglas Wilder. Peggy Baggett, Executive Director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, said: "Donna had a great passion for all of the arts, and during her five years on the board of the Commission she and her husband Mel traveled to all corners of the state attending performances and exhibitions. Donna had a warm and loving heart; and she had a strong commitment to the artists, administrators, technical staff, and volunteers who work so hard every day to bring the arts to the people of Virginia. She will be greatly missed."

Memorial Contributions may be made to MetroStage, 1201 Royal Street, Alexandria, VA  22314.

(Nina Tisara/www.AleaxandriaLegends.com contributed to this content.)

Contact: Trish Poupore, Executive Director, Virginians for the Arts
E-mail: vaforarts@aol.com; Web site: Vaforarts.org
Phone (804) 644-2787
February 16, 2010


Virginians for the Arts (VFTA) announces members of the board of directors newly elected for three-year terms, expiring December 31, 2012:

•David Briggs, Arlington, is a partner with Holland & Knight LLP known for his expertise in real estate law and for his dedication to public service. Long interested in music, his singing for Arlington’s Metropolitan Chorus led to an interest in arts advocacy and his appointment to the Arlington County Commission on the Arts, where he later became Chair. Briggs is a former commissioner on the Virginia Commission for the Arts. His extensive community service includes membership on the boards of Signature Theatre, Arlington, and The Arlington Community Foundation. He is former board member and president of the (Arlington) Metropolitan Chorus.

•Nicholas J. Covatta, Jr., Accomac, is chair of the Virginia Commission for the Arts. He is managing director of Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia, a 300 acre wholesale grower of ornamental plants, and chair of Atlantis Investors. He has had a distinguished business career, holding positions of executive vice president of AI International Corporation; vice president of Gulf Oil Corporation, and staff executive of General Electric Company, among others. Covatta is past president of the board of directors of the North Street Playhouse, Onancock, and is an amateur stage actor. He is a trustee of Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital and a member of the Corporate Development Committee of MIT.

•Pearl Harrell, Suffolk, serves her community as a director on the board of Suffolk Art League. She is past president of the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts Foundation Board. She has served on the boards of Young Audiences of Virginia, the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society, and the Garden Club of Virginia (via Nansemond River Garden Club). She is a member of the Gateway Bank (Suffolk Branch) Advisory Board.

•William “Bill” Ginther, Richmond, retired from SunTrust/Crestar as a senior executive. His extensive community service has includes service as past chairman of the board, Visual Arts Center of Richmond; past president, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business Alumni Board; past president, VCU Alumni Association; Trustee, Virginia Commonwealth University; and current chairman, Advancement Committee, VCU School of Business Foundation. Ginther has also served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the City of Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court since October 2008.

Directors returning to the Virginians for the Arts Board after earlier years of service (for three-year terms, expiring December 31, 2012) include John “Butch” Davies, Culpeper, and Sally Lay, Manassas.

•John “Butch” Davies is Partner, Davies, Barrell, Will, Lewellyn & Edwards, PLC, and served as a Delegate in the Virginia General Assembly between 1992 – 2000. Among his many contributions to the community include service as vice chairman of the board for the Bluemont Concert Series and as past president of Culpeper Renaissance, Inc. (Virginia Main Street Program).

•Sally Lay, executive director of the Center for the Arts of Greater Manassas/Prince William County, is a former president of Virginians for the Arts. She currently serves on many arts and civic boards including the Prince William County Arts Council Board of Directors; Prince William County Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors; Leadership Prince William Board of Regents; she is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Manassas and she serves on the Arts Council of Fairfax CAPS Advisory Panel.

Re-elected to three year terms expiring December 31, 2012 are:

•June Britt, Lynchburg
•Marjorie Lewis, Millwood
•Dennis Lynch, Woodstock
•Patricia Rublein, Williamsburg
•Sally Rugaber, Meadows of Dan
•Jim Thompson, Hampton

Now in its eighteenth year, Virginians for the Arts’ membership includes artists, arts patrons, and arts organizations. VFTA’s mission since its establishment in 1992 has been to preserve the arts in the Commonwealth by advocating for increased funding for the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Virginians for the Arts Foundation announces election to its board for three-year terms (expiring 12/31/2012):

Sandy Kjerulf, Richmond
Daphne Maxwell Reid, Petersburg
Beth Temple, Alexandria
Jim Thompson, Hampton

Suny Monk, Amherst, was re-elected to the Foundation board for a three-year term (expiring December 31, 2012).

Board members re-elected to the Foundation board for two-year terms (expiring December 31, 2011) include:

Peter Fields, Fredericksburg
Catherine Jordan Wass, Norfolk
Philip Whiteway, Richmond

In its sixth year, the Virginians for the Arts Foundation works to enhance the appreciation and visibility of the arts in Virginia and to provide education and professional development for arts professionals. VFTA Foundation currently administers the Arts Build Communities public awareness campaign, is fiscal sponsor for the 2010 MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts Celebration, and facilitated celebration of former Governor Timothy Kaine’s 2008 celebration of Governors Arts Awards with the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Contact:Trish Poupore, Executive Director, Virginians for the Arts
Phone (804) 644-2787
E-mail: vaforarts@aol.com; Web site: Vaforarts.org
February 12, 2010

Virginians for the Arts elected the following officers for two year terms, at its board meeting January 28, 2010.

Suny Monk has been elected president of the board of directors of Virginians for the Arts (VFTA) and for the board of the VFTA Foundation. Monk is the Executive Director of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) located in Amherst, Virginia; a position she assumed in 1997. Before this, she was Head of Aylett Country Day School in Millers Tavern, Virginia. She is trained as a ceramist and for the last 20 years has produced one-of-a-kind wearable art. Since coming to the VCCA she has served as a consultant and panelist for University of Virginia at Wise, Randolph Macon Women’s College, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the Appomattox Regional Governors School for the Arts and Technology. She served on the selection committee for the Governor’s Awards for the Arts 2008. She was named Woman of the Year in the Arts in 2006 by the YWCA Academy of Women. She is a board member of the Academy of Fine Arts, The Alliance of Artists Communities, and New Vistas School.

Jim Thompson, Hampton, has been elected vice president of the Virginians for the Arts and VFTA Foundation boards. Thompson is a photographer who displays in local and regional arts shows and was an educator (photographer) for 30 years. He is past chairman of the Hampton Arts Commission, past president and present board member of Hampton Arts Foundation, and past chair for the Architectural and Construction Committee for the just-completed $4 million expansion of the American Theatre in Hampton. He is vice president for advocacy, Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads, Norfolk, a board member of Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, a board member of the Hampton Teen Center, and past president of Kiwanis By the Bay. He is a long-time rugby enthusiast who played, refereed, and now evaluates rugby referees for the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Referee Society and USA Rugby.

Daphne Maxwell Reid, Petersburg, known as Aunt Viv on NBC's hit comedy, "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," has been elected Secretary/Treasurer of the Virginians for the Arts board, and Treasurer of the VFTA Foundation board. With her husband, actor/writer/producer Tim Reid, Maxwell Reid co-founded and is a principal partner in New Millennium Studios, the first full-service film studio in Virginia, a state-of-the-art facility opened July 12, 1997. For the past 12 years, she has been acting chief operating officer and has handled the business affairs and finances of New Millennium Studios and its various subsidiary companies, and serves as a Producer on various projects. She is a member of the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University, Petersburg; on the board of the Library Foundation; and on the board of the Petersburg Area Art League. Daphne Maxwell Reid is an avid digital photographer and has just produced and exhibited her first collection, “Doors” to critical acclaim.

Sandra Lee Kjerulf, Richmond, has been elected Secretary of the Virginians for the Arts Foundation. As a human resource professional over 30 years, she specialized in employee relations, teambuilding, and organization development and served as president of the Richmond Human Resource Management Association. Kjerulf came to the arts through the Richmond Arts Council Business Volunteers for the Arts and 1708 Gallery more than 20 years ago. A long-time 1708 Gallery board member and former board president, she continues as a member of the Emeritus Council working on special projects. Kjerulf’s community volunteer roles also include the boards of Richmond SPCA and ChildSavers, where she chairs the Art Collection Committee. She has served on Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Collectors’ Circle Steering Committee and as a panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Now in its eighteenth year, VFTA’s membership includes artists, arts patrons, and arts organizations. VFTA’s mission since its establishment in 1992 has been to preserve the arts in the Commonwealth by advocating for increased funding for the Virginia Commission for the Arts. In its sixth year, the VFTA Foundation works to enhance the appreciation and visibility of the arts in Virginia and to provide education and professional development for arts professionals.

Contact:Trish Poupore, Executive Director, Virginians for the Arts                

Phone (804) 644-2787

E-mail: vaforarts@aol.com                                        November 23, 2009

(L to R: Judges Rod Taylor, Mark Flynn, Beth Temple, Vaughan Webb, Willie Dell,

Pete Fields, Marjorie Grier (far right). Peggy Baggett, second from right)

Virginians for the Arts Awards Showcase Contributions of Arts Organizations to Building Communities

Today, Virginians for the Arts announced winners of its Arts Build Communities Awards. The awards recognize arts organizations that best demonstrate the ability to enhance the community, lift our spirits, and build a better quality of life.  Says Virginians for the Arts President Peter Fields, “The awards showcase the ways the arts contribute to the overall quality of life in Virginia communities.”

The Barter Theatre, Abingdon, was selected to receive the Shining Star Award.  With 150,000 annual patrons, The Barter Theatre was selected for the extraordinary impact it has had on the Abingdon community, the region, and on the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The theatre, Abingdon’s 10^th largest employer, was founded in 1933 during the Great Depressionundefinedwhen patrons could exchange vegetables for a ticket, was awarded the Shining Star designation, since it has stood the “test of time.” 

The Barter is recognized for its ability to successfully develop community partnerships and business, legislative, and local community support. Long-standing partnerships include SWVA Second Harvest Food Bank and United Way of Washington County, among many others. It maintains relationships with recruiting departments of corporations and hospitals, as well as regional economic development offices to help provide positive experiences of the area when prospective executives, doctors, and businesses come to the area.  Barter enhances K-12 education in the region, discounting ticket prices by two-thirds for Student Matinees and providing free tickets to students enrolled in the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Its education programs serve more than 55,000 children each year. 

The Prizery, South Boston, was selected to receive the Rising Star Award.  The Rising Star Award is presented to an organization that contributes to and engages its community significantly, like the winner of the Shining Star award, but that is now not as well established.

Founded only in 2004, the Prizery has galvanized support for the fine and lively arts across the region, and it has become a mecca of performances, exhibits, and classes. Housed in a donated circa 1903 building, which underwent a $7 million adaptive re-use overhaul, today it is a major regional attraction for visitors and business prospects.  Among its significant programs supporting K-12 education, The Prizery operates a unique Pre-K Arts Academy for every public-school four-year-old, partnering with the Halifax County Public Schools. Its work has helped spawned businesses that include three restaurants, a retail art gallery, a clothing boutique, a home décor shop and an artists’ guild. The organization has sparked an entirely new way of community thinking about the region’s potential in a post-tobacco, post-textile era.

These organizations will be recognized as Finalists for the Awards:

Shining Star Finalists:  Signature Theatre, Arlington; The Taubman, Roanoke; 1708 Gallery, Richmond, and Piedmont Arts Association, Martinsville.

Rising Star Finalists: Empowered Women, International, Alexandria; Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester; Break the Glass Foundation, Chesapeake; and Gallery 5, Richmond.

The organizations will be recognized with an Honorable Mention designation:

Shining Star Honorable Mentions

• Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center, Clifton Forge
• Bluemont: The Cultural Spirit of our Communities, Purcellville
• Educational Theatre Company, Arlington
• Greater Reston Art Center, Reston
• Municipal Band of Charlottesville, Charlottesville
• Piedmont Council of the Arts, Charlottesville
• Pro-Art Association, Wise
• Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond
• Wayside Theatre, Middletown

Rising Star Honorable Mentions

• Bay School Cultural Art Center, Mathews
• Parsons-Bruce Art Association, South Boston
• Southwest Virginia Community College, Richlands
• The Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville
• Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, Falls Church

Eighty-two Virginia arts organizations were nominated for awards.  Judges for the awards included Mrs. Willie Dell, Commissioner, Virginia Commission for the Arts; Mr. Peter Fields, President, Virginians for the Arts; Mr. Mark Flynn, Legislative Director, Virginia Municipal League, Richmond; Ms. Marjorie N. Grier, DirectorundefinedCorporate Philanthropy, Dominion Resources, Inc., Richmond; Dr. Roderic A. Taylor, Member of the Board, Virginians for the Arts, Chesapeake; and Mr. J. Vaughan Webb, Commissioner, Virginia Commission for the Arts, Ferrum.  Ms. Beth Temple, Alexandria, served as a judge and chaired the judges panel.  She serves as Chair of the Virginians for the Arts Awards Committee.

“There are many arts organizations all across Virginia that are doing outstanding work in enriching the lives of their home communities.  These organizations are anchors for downtown and neighborhood revitalization.  Performances, festivals, and art exhibitions bring people together for shared experiences, which build cohesion within communities and create a sense of civic pride.  Arts organizations employ people and make purchases from local businesses, adding to economic vitality.  The new Arts Build Communities Awards bring a spotlight to the role of arts organizations in building strong communities,” says Peggy Baggett, Executive Director, Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Matthew D. Fine, a well-known sculptor from Norfolk, Virginia, with a growing national reputation, has been selected to prepare the award pieces.

Awards will be presented at the ArtWorks for Virginia Conference 2010 Luncheon on January 27, 2010, in Richmond, Virginia.

Virginians for the Arts works to build awareness of the importance of the efforts of Virginia’s state arts agency, the Virginia Commission for the Arts. In 2009, the agency provided grants for operating support for more than 200 arts organizations throughout the state and more than 1,000 other types of grants that benefit teachers, students, local government, artists and the communities they serve. The Virginia Commission for the Arts is the only entity in the state concerned about developing the arts industry as a whole and about making the arts available in all parts of the Commonwealth. In 2008, the Commission helped to make possible 39,943 arts events attended by more than 7.7 million people, including 1.9 million school children.

As of October 2009, Virginia’s arts agency was funded at 51 cents per capita, the lowest level of any state arts agency of its neighboring states: including (July 2009 figures) North Carolina at $1.18 cents, Maryland at $2.52, Kentucky at $.84, and West Virginia at $1.54.

# # #

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Office of the First Lady

Anne Holton                                          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First Lady of Virginia                                                        September 30, 2009

Contact: Gordon Hickey                                        Asha Holloman
Phone:                   (804) 225-4260                                                    (804) 371-2642, x2437
Cell Phone:           (804) 291-8977                                      
Internet:                www.governor.virginia.gov                        www.firstlady.governor.virginia.gov

 

~ Thousands of events honoring women’s contribution to the arts planned for 2010 ~

RICHMOND – First Lady Anne B. Holton today joined five other Virginia first ladies in supporting MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts, a statewide tribute to female artists in Virginia.

 “I am pleased and privileged to be part of this celebration of women in the arts today,” First Lady Holton said. “I am honored to join my fellow first ladies, who have historically supported the arts, both during their tenures here at the Executive Mansion and in their private lives.”

            MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts is the first statewide celebration of its kind. Between March and June of 2010, thousands of special programs and events will occur across the Commonwealth to honor contributions by women to arts and culture. Any individual or group can participate by presenting at least one public programundefinedincluding plays, choreography, compositions, and exhibitions of paintings, photography or films that have been created by women or feature women as the primary focus. 

 First Lady Holton and the other first ladies are serving as honorary chairs of MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. Joining first lady Holton at the ceremony were former first ladies Lisa Collis, Roxane Gilmore, Susan Allen, Jeannie P. Baliles, and Virginia “Jinks” Holton. Former first ladies Lynda Johnson Robb, Eddy Dalton Phillips, and Katherine Godwin were unable to attend

             In addition to the first ladies, six notable Virginia women artists attended the ceremony.  These included Beverly “B.J.” Brown, executive director of the Richmond Jazz Society; Daphne Maxwell Reid, co-founder of the New Millennium Studios in Petersburg; Marian Van Landingham, founder of the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria; Nikki Giovanni, poet and English professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg; Carolyn Griffin, producing artistic director of MetroStage in Alexandria; and Stoner Winslett, founding artistic director of the Richmond Ballet.

             A few of the many Richmond area organizations hosting MINDS WIDE OPEN events scheduled for 2010 include: Richmond Ballet, Sycamore Rouge, Richmond Symphony, Theatre IV, Barksdale Theatre, Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Hispanic Women in the Arts, and the University of Richmond Museum. Visit http://vamindswideopen.org/ for a complete list of scheduled events in the Richmond area.

# # #

Virginians for the Arts announces its first Arts Build Communities Awards, to be presented January 27, 2010, at the ArtWorks for Virginia annual conference luncheon.

The purpose of the Arts Build Communities Awards for 2010 is to recognize two arts organizations that best demonstrate the ability to enhance the community, lift our spirits, and build a better quality of life. 

 

An award will be made to an established organizationundefinedthe Shining Star Award; and an award will be made to an organization emerging as a “Rising Star.” The awards present a wonderful opportunity to spotlight the ways the arts contribute to the overall quality of life in Virginia communities. 

 

Two awards will be made, the Shining Star Award and the Rising Star Award.  The Shining Star Award will be made to an organization that has an extraordinary impact on the community, successfully develops community partnerships and business, legislative, and local community support; contributes to K-12 education; and that has stood the “test of time.”  The Rising Star Award will be made to an organization that meets all criteria for the Shining Star Award but that is not as well established.

 

Nominations may be made by anyone in the Commonwealth and must be postmarked or delivered to Virginians for the Arts no later than October 30, 2009. (Judges will view only one nomination per nominee.) To be eligible to receive an Arts Build Communities Award, organizations must be operating in the Commonwealth of Virginia. An organization representative must be available to accept the award at the ArtWorks for Virginia 2010 Luncheon on January 27, 2010, in Richmond, Virginia.

 

A nomination form is available here.  Contact Trish Poupore, Executive Director, Virginians for the Arts with questions by phoning (804)644-2787 or emailing Vaforarts@aol.com.  Nominations should be mailed to VFTA at 1 East Cary Street, Richmond, Virginia  23219 or emailed to Lora Richardson at Vaforarts2@aol.com.

Mike Seeger, whose love of traditional songs and tunes inspired many other musicians, including Bob Dylan, to look for the rural roots of American music, died of cancer at his home in Lexington on Friday, August 8.

Mike Seeger has devoted his life to researching, singing, and playing the traditional mountain music of the southern United States.  He was a major force in giving rural Southern musicians a wider audience.  He played the guitar, banjo, fiddle, jew’s harp, quills, harmonica, dulcimer, and autoharp.  Since 1960 he toured the United States, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.  He produced more than 78 recordings for Rounder, Smithsonian Folkways, County, Vanguard, and other labels.

Mike was a founding member of the vanguard old-time-style string band, the New Lost City Ramblers.  This trailblazing three-person string band combined the urban roots of its members with a deep regard for music of the countryside and small towns.  Mike and fellow Ramblers John Cohan and Tom Paley mined old 78 RPM recordings and visited with senior players, bringing largely forgotten music to life with new yet traditional arrangements.   

He was born into a prominent musical family.  His half-brother Pete and sister Peggy are renowned musicians and social activists.  His father Charles was a folklorist.  His mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger, was a music scholar, teacher, and classical composer.

Mike’s love of traditional music led him to begin playing in earnest in his late teens.  He sought out, learned from, and recorded traditional musicians, starting in Washington, DC, where he was raised.  He ultimately traveled all over the South to find artists long forgotten or undiscovered. 

Mike was the recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian Research Fellowship Program, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Grateful Dead’s Rex Foundation.  He received six Grammy Award nominations.  He has been a part of the Virginia Commission for the Arts performing arts touring program since 1987 and has performed throughout Virginia.  In 2001 he was the featured performer at the Art Works for Virginia conference in downtown Richmond. 

Mike Seeger will be greatly missed.

Carole Hubbard, who died July 28, 2009, and was a former board member of Virginians for the Arts, was an Associate Professor at Old Dominion University. She was previously the Supervisor of Arts for the Newport News Public Schools and taught at Hampton University. She began her career teaching in the Newport News and Hampton Public School Systems for many years. She was a member of Suffolk Christian Church, The National Arts Association, Virginians for the Arts, The Virginia Arts Education Association and the Tidewater Arts Association. 

Carole was born in Pekin, Ill., and had lived in Hampton Roads for the past 36 years. Dr. Hubbard received her bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University, her Masters Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and her Ph.D. from Penn State University where she became an avid Penn State football fan.

She is survived by her husband, Leroy Hubbard; her daughters, Lisa Stern (Charles) of Newport News, Michelle Bowman (Mike Emery) of Cocoa, Fla., and Nicole Smith (Doug) of Suffolk; her grandchildren, Gregory and Sarah Stern of Newport News, Trevor Bowman of Cocoa, Fla.; her sister, Mary Lou Tosi and her husband, Lyle "Buck" of Pekin, Ill., and by Robert Hecker of Newport News, the father of her children.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Peninsula Fine Arts Center, 101 Museum Dr., NN, VA 23606. Carole will be fondly remembered by her friends in the arts throughout the state of Virginia.

Virginia Commission for the Arts Board Member Maria Laqueur passed away on July 23 after a lengthy battle with cancer.  Maria moved from northern Virginia to Weems on the Northern Neck in 1996.  She was a member of the board of the Rappahannock Foundation for the Arts and booked the performance series for Lancaster County for several years.  Before moving to the Northern Neck, she worked as Executive Director of the Association of Part Time Professionals, as the U.S. Marketing Director of Bemrose UK Ltd, and in various positions at the Library of Congress.  She served on the performing arts touring advisory panel of the Virginia Commission for the Arts.  In 2006 Governor Tim Kaine appointed her to the board of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, representing the First Congressional District of the state.   She will be greatly missed by her many friends in the arts in Virginia.