ALLIANCE
2005 GALA at the COPACABANA
Honorees 2005
Celebrate the Arts in New York State. Join the Alliance and honorary gala chairman Richard J. Schwartz on November 7, 2005 as we acknowledge and honor the doers and dreamers who will receive awards this year:
HON.
LOUISE SLAUGHTER
arts advocate award
THEODORE BERGER
lifetime
achievement award
POETS & WRITERS
downstate organization
award
ARTS CENTER OF SCHENECTADY-PROCTOR'S THEATRE
upstate
organization award
QUANG BAO
M. Jacquie Lodico distinguished
service award
MARVIN LEFFLER
Board Leadership Award
Congresswoman LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER is serving her sixth term in the United States House of Representatives, representing the28th Congressional District of New York, including the Rochester area. One of four Democrats to serve on the influential House Rules Committee, she has been called "one of the most powerful women in Congress." In her 11 years in the House, Rep. Slaughter has made profound contributions on a wide range of issues, including education, health care, economic development - and the arts. She's is arts advocate par excellence and a tireless and indefatigable spokesperson for the industry. During a time of considerable debate over the role of federal funding for the Arts, Rep. Slaughter founded the bipartisan Congressional Membership Organization for the Arts, a unifying effort that includes 116 Members of Congress. As its Chairwoman, she has led her colleagues in a successful effort to preserve funding for the federal cultural agencies, boosting visibility for the issues through Capitol Hill events, Congressional letter-writing campaigns, press conferences, supportive testimony before key Congressional committees, floor speeches and much more. Rep.Slaughter also served as Chairwoman of the former Congressional Arts Caucus. As she has stated many times, she is a firm believer in "the power of the arts to transcend our differences, transport our imaginations and teach our children." Her longtime passion and energy for the arts and arts education are also reflected in her dedication to the people she serves, and when it comes to Congressional debate, she is an eloquent advocate who never lets an unfounded allegation go unanswered. A native of Kentucky, Rep. Slaughter has spent most of her life in Rochester. She is married to Robert Slaughter, and has three daughters and four grandchildren.
TED BERGER'S illustrious career spans decades and no award would due his achievements justice. He is a one in a million and is honored for the significant role he has played throughout his career on behalf of the arts community in New York State. He recently announced his intention to retire from the New York Foundation for the Arts, an organization he joined in 1973. There he developed the NYFA Artist-in-Residence program, and was named executive director in 1980. With an organizational budget of $13 million, NYFA is one of the nation's major providers of grants and services to individual artists in all artistic disciplines and also serves arts organizations, the educational community, and the general public through a variety of national and international initiatives. Mr. Berger has written and spoken extensively on the arts and artists for national publications and conferences, and has served on numerous cultural and educational boards, panels, and committees, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York-Israel Cultural Cooperation Commission, the New Jersey Council on the Arts, the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and the Alliance of Artists' Communities. He serves on the Advisory Council of ArtsAction, is a past member of the Board of the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations, is on the Board of ArtsConnection, the Association of Hispanic Arts, the Colleagues Theater Company, the Design Trust for Public Space, and the New York City Arts Coalition, and was formerly assistant dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of International Affairs at Columbia University.
Founded 35 years ago, POETS & WRITERS is unique among national literary organizations in that it focuses on the source of literature, providing information, support, and guidance to writers at all stages in their careers. P&W accomplishes this by paying fees to writers participating in public literary events, publishing Poets & Writers Magazine, maintaining Poets & Writers Online, offering publishing information and an online Directory of Writers, and introducing emerging writers outside of New York to the New York City literary community. P&W programs connect authors to audiences, making today's writing visible and accessible in major cities and small towns across the country.
THE ARTS CENTER & THEATRE OF SCHENECTADY-better known as PROCTOR'S THEATRE is the recipient of the Upstate Arts Organization Award for Advancing Cultural Development in New York. Proctor's has been the catalyst for Schenectady's downtown development projects and the jewel on which the renewed economic vitality is but on. It has offered diverse arts for the entire community for over 25 years. Proctor's Theatre has reinvented itself successfully. It offers over 60 performances a year of varied professional shows. The growth in the Theatre's education program has been phenomenal in quality and quantity and it's the partnerships that have made Proctor's so successful. Economic development is supported with Proctor's initiated new arts district in Schenectady. Proctor's is the innovator, creative force and energy behind so many cultural development, enriching the arts in the Capital Region. With it's growing vision of attracting tourists and expanding it services to the region's young people, it is a tremendous asset to the City of Schenectady, the Capital Region and the entire State of New York.
QUANG BAO was born in Can Tho, Vietnam in 1969 and came to the United States when he was six years old. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Boston University and a Nonprofit Arts Management Certificate from Columbia University. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Public Radio. He is the coeditor of Take Out: Queer Writing from Asian Pacific American and current executive director of The Asian American Writers' Workshop, the country's leading literary arts nonprofit for Asian American literature. His stewardship of this organization makes him a worthy recipient of the M. Jacquie Lodico distinguished service award.
MARVIN LEFFLER is a board member par excellence and an extraordinary recipient of the Board Leadership Award. Mr. Leffler is a driver and inspiring individual who has shown tireless dedication to The Town Hall in New York City to the Times Square district, and to the arts community at large. In the 1970s Mr. Leffler was a manufacturing executive and he and a small group of friends and colleagues took over The Town Hall with Mr. Leffler managing on only a part time basis. By 1981, he had given up his business and became a full-time volunteer at the Hall-without compensation-with the energy and enthusiasm of a college intern. He has also been a generous colleague to everyone in the arts community, sharing his knowledge, insights and expertise with those looking to learn the "secrets of his success." Mr. Leffler is tireless advice for the arts and arts education and a dedicated contributor to the community.
Invitations to the Gala were mailed in the third week in September. You may also reserve your place at the Gala by clicking on this link. Save the date on your calendar now to join us November 7, 2005 at the legendary Copacabana 34th Street and 11th Avenue, NYC for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and the awards ceremony, 6-8pm.