Patrick Page Wins 2012 Princess Grace Award

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) and its Chairman, Hon. John F. Lehman, announced today the winners of the 2012 Princess Grace Awards. The Awards for theater, dance and choreography, and film continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco, who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during Her lifetime. This year's 25 Awards winners will travel to New York City, where they will receive their Awards at the 30th Anniversary Princess Grace Awards Gala, held in the presence of TSH The Prince and Princess of Monaco, on October 22, 2012 at Cipriani 42nd Street.

PGF-USA is also proud to announce the inaugural year of the Princess Grace JustFilms Documentary Awards, made possible by the Ford Foundation's JustFilms program. These funds support social justice documentary film projects, which focus on South Asian and Southeast Asian communities. The Princess Grace Foundation-USA, a public charity, was formed after the death of Princess Grace in 1982. They present scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships to assist artists at the start of their careers. The Foundation has cultivated a diverse group of nearly 600 artists to date who continue to advance the spectrum of performing arts with innovative, cutting-edge, and vibrant theater, dance, choreography, film, playwriting and design. Since the Foundation's inception, more than 750 Awards have been given to recipients, totaling more than $9.5 million.

For the fourth year in a row, celebrated artist Alex Soldier, known for his mastery of precious miniatures, has created an objet d'art to symbolize the Princess Grace Awards. The Award symbolically combines the three art forms lauded by the Foundation: theater, dance, and film by using precious metals and Swarovski crystal accents. The sculpture is made for each recipient to wear as a pin, a special reminder of their Award for the world to see.

PRINCESS GRACE STATUE AWARD Past winners of the Awards who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their initial Princess Grace Awards are eligible to win the coveted Princess Grace Statue Award. It includes a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift and a special Bronze Statue of Princess Grace created by Dutch artist Kees Verkade. This year's Statue Award winners are Patrick Page and Darron L West.

Each year, the Foundation presents the Princess Grace Awards to artists who show excellence and promise in the areas of theater, dance, and film. Students are eligible for scholarships; emerging artists working in companies qualify for apprenticeships and fellowships. A playwriting fellowship is available for individual artists through a residency at New Dramatists in New York City, which includes the opportunity to have the winning play be licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc. In addition to these, the Foundation also gives honorable mention grants to applicants through Honoraria.

The 2012 Princess Grace Awards winners represent 25 colleges, universities, and not-for-profit theater and dance companies throughout the United States. The Awards winners exemplify both classical and experimental artistic disciplines and, while still considered emerging talent, already show exceptional promise in their areas of expertise. The Foundation's support assists their theater and dance studies, helps pay their artistic fees at non-profit theater and dance companies and helps support their thesis film projects. In addition to the Awards, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA extends general operating monies to companies hosting an Awards winner. This year's Princess Grace Awards winners are:

ABOUT THE PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION – USA The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a not-for-profit, publicly-supported foundation, headquartered in New York City and founded 30 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in honor of his wife, Princess Grace [Kelly]. The Foundation's mission, that mirrors Princess Grace's in Her lifetime, is to support emerging artists in theater, dance and film through the awarding of scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships. Since the Foundation's inception, more than 750 Awards have been given to recipients, totaling more than $9.5 million. Some notable Princess Grace Awards recipients in Film include: Cary Joji Fukunaga, director of Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre; Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants and Greg Mottola, director of Paul, Adventureland and Superbad. Theater recipients include: 2008 Tony® Award winner for Best Direction of a Play, Anna D. Shapiro; Pulitzer and Tony® Award winning playwright Tony Kushner; and 2006 Academy Award® winner Eric Simonson. Dance/Choreography recipients include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle; American Ballet Theatre's Gillian Murphy, Isabella Boylston and Sarah Lane; as well as choreographers Kyle Abraham and Camille A. Brown. For more information, please visit www.pgfusa.org.

For Gala ticket information contact Tamara Leuchtenburg at Event Associates at 212.245.6570, x15, Tamaral@eventassociatesinc.com.