Cultural Center of Cape Cod
BARNSTABLE – The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod has announced the winners of the 2015 Creative Community Awards.
The honorees are:
- Arts Educator of the Year – Jane Baker, Falmouth High School
Jane Baker has taught at Falmouth High School since 2004, working with all levels of studio art, organizing special collaborative arts projects for student involvement and coordinating her students’ gallery shows. She served as Art Coordinator for the school district for several years and is in her 11th year directing the Falmouth chapter of the National Art Honor Society. She is also an exhibiting artist and printmaker.
- Collaborative Arts Project of the Year – Mutal Muses by the Cultural Center of Cape Cod
The Mutual Muses program at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in Yarmouth pairs visual artists with poets and encourage them to each create new work inspired by the work of the other culminating in an exhibit. The eight Mutual Muses exhibits to date have featured the work of almost 400 artists and 400 poets.
- Community Leadership in Support of the Arts – Naomi Turner, Founding President, Chatham Orpheum Theater
Naomi Turner was the driving force behind the restoration of the Chatham Orpheum Theater inspiring hundreds of volunteers and 3,000 donors to bring the movie theater back to life to become a jewel of the Main Street Chatham area and in its first year serving over 55,000 patrons. In addition to her work with the Orpheum, Turner has a long history of cultural leadership, serving as a founding member of the Chatham Cultural Council, a Board Member at the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans, as well as founding several dance companies. - Social Collaboration in the Arts – Harwich Junior Theater and Cotuit Center for the Arts
Tamara Harper of Harwich Junior Theater and Lenore Lyons at Cotuit Center for the Arts have been combating the rampant social problem of bullying with a special program using many forms of art as a tool to open communication. From theater to writing to visual arts, this collaborative program has worked with hundreds of students in our local schools.
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Helen Pond, Set Designer
For four decades set designer and Yarmouth Port resident Helen Pond, along with her partner Herb Senn, who died in 2003, produced imaginative sets for theatrical stages in New York, Boston and here on Cape Cod. From Shakespeare to Noel Coward, their diverse body of work also includes Boston Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker and numerous sets for opera productions, as well as many works for the Cape Playhouse in Dennis. Pond and Senn were known for their beautifully hand-painted scenery which delighted all their audiences.
According to David Kaplan, Executive Director of the Arts Foundation, “It’s a privilege to be able to present these awards to such outstanding people, programs and organizations. I’m especially pleased that this year we have added a new award—Social Collaboration in the Arts—to recognize projects having particularly significant social impact. While a robust environment of arts and culture can be credited with reducing crime, drug addiction, and many other social ills, with this new award we want to highlight art programs directly aimed at reducing those problems.”
This year’s ceremony, which will be broadcast live, will be held as part of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod’s Spring Grants and Awards Reception on Wednesday, April 29, at the Cape Cod Community Media Center in Dennis Port. At the event the organization will also distribute grant awards to local arts organizations and present their first annual AFCC Fellowship Award to visual artist Richard Neal.
