Patrick Page and More Win 2012 Princess Grace Awards

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) has just announced that the 30(th) Anniversary Princess Grace Awards Gala will be held on Monday, October 22, 2012 at Cipriani 42(nd) Street in New York City. The Awards ceremony will include the presentation of 25 awards to emerging artists in theater, dance and film as well as Princess Grace Statue Awards to be presented to Patrick Page and Darron L West. A special honor will be presented to one of the founding Trustees, Lynn Wyatt, for her dedicated service and help in establishing the Foundation in 1982. The 30(th) Anniversary Princess Grace Awards Gala will take place in the presence of TSH The Prince and The Princess of Monaco. Legendary newswoman Paula Zahn will act as Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening. The evening will be chaired by Renee Fleming and Tim Jessell and H.R.H. Princess Firyal of Jordan. Presenting Sponsor for the Gala is Hermes; Crown Sponsor is Lily Safra. A unique live auction will feature a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Monaco for the Grand Prix and opportunities to name a Princess Grace Award. Bringing down the gavel will be Paddle8's co-founder, Alexander Gilkes.

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 nearly $10 million.

Past winners of the Awards for theater, dance and film who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their initial Princess Grace Awards are eligible to win the Foundation's Princess Grace Statue Award. This year, Broadway star Patrick Page and TONY Award-winning sound designer Darron L West will be receiving this honor. In addition to a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift, these Awardees are presented with a bronze statuette of Princess Grace created by the Dutch artist Kees Verkade. To date, fifty-six artists have received this award.

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. Presented as a sculpture to Lynn Wyatt, this work of art is created for each Princess Grace Award winner to wear as a pin, a special reminder of their Award for the world to see.

Earlier in the day, the Dom Perignon Crown Luncheon will take place for donors to the Foundation. That night, the Gala will begin with cocktails, followed by an Awards Ceremony featuring special presentations by Princess Grace Awards winners including a performance by Leslie Odom, Jr. (Of SMASH fame) and Nicolette Robinson; then a 3-course dinner catered by Cipriani 42(nd) Street; and finally, dancing to DJ Clockwork in the Chapel Room. At the Gala, guests will have the opportunity to support the Foundation by bidding at a live auction, hosted by Paddle8's Alexander Gilkes. All auction proceeds will benefit Princess Grace Awards to advance its mission of providing crucial support to emerging artists in America. In September, a Gala kick-off was graciously hosted by Montblanc at their NYC boutique, where guests viewed the Collection Princesse Grace de Monaco pens and jewelry, and celebrating the new Awards winners.

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 (listed below) represent 24 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. 2012 marks the launch of the Princess Grace JustFilms Awards with the generous support of the Ford Foundation. These Awards assist social justice documentary filmmakers whose projects focus on South and Southeast Asian communities.

This year's Princess Grace Awards winners are:

THEATER AND PLAYWRITING

Tom Dugdale
Theater Apprenticeship, Grace Le Vine Theater Award
La Jolla Playhouse

Michael Haverty
Theater Fellowship, Gant Gaither Theater Award
7 Stages

Joel Jimenez
Theater Apprenticeship, George C. Wolfe Award
Cornerstone Theater Company

Jared Mezzocchi
Theater Fellowship, Robert and Gloria Hausman Theater Award
HERE Arts Center

Vincent Richards
Theater Scholarship, Faberge Theater Award
California Institute of the Arts

M. Meriwether Snipes
Theater Scholarship, Pierre Cardin Theater Award
New York University

Matthew P. Olmos
Playwriting Fellowship
New Dramatists

DANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY

Jamal R. Callender
Dance Fellowship
Ballet Hispanico of New York

Albert Gordon
Dance Scholarship
The Washington Ballet

Franco Nieto
Dance Fellowship
Northwest Dance Project

Raymond S. Pinto
Dance Scholarship
The Juilliard School-Dance Division

David Schultz
Dance Fellowship
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Beckanne Sisk
Dance Fellowship, Chris Hellman Dance Award
Ballet West

Norbert De La Cruz
Choreography Fellowship
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

Michelle Dorrance
Choreography Fellowship
Chicago Human Rhythm Project

Bridget L. Moore
Choreography Fellowship
Dallas Black Dance Theatre

FILM

Kathleen Bracke
Undergraduate Film Scholarship
University of Notre Dame

Javier Barboza
Graduate Film Scholarship
University of Southern California

Erick Msumanje
Undergraduate Film Scholarship, John H. Johnson Film Award
Hampshire College

Nijla Mu'min
Graduate Film Scholarship, Cary Grant Film Award
California Institute of the Arts

Fiona Otway
Graduate Film Scholarship
Temple University

Stephanie Spray
Graduate Film Scholarship
Harvard University

Esy Casey
JustFilms Documentary
Center for Asian American Media

Amitabh R. Joshi
JustFilms Documentary
School of Visual Arts

Chao Thao
JustFilms Documentary
University of Southern California

HONORARIA

Henry Wishcamper
Theater Honorarium
Goodman Theatre

Christina Kolozsvary
Graduate Film Honorarium
Massachusetts College of Art

Talibah Newman
Graduate Film Honorarium
Columbia University

Mark Tumas
Undergraduate Film Honorarium
Temple University

Jason DaSilva
JustFilms Documentary Honorarium
Fire Light Media

SPECIAL PROJECT and WORKS IN PROGRESS AWARDS

Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center are grants available to past Princess Grace Awards winners and Honoraria recipients for uniquely significant projects that advance their artistic development. This year's Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies are:

SPECIAL PROJECT AWARDS

Gisela Cardenas
Clove Galilee
Lance Gries
Miwa Matreyek
Andrea Miller
A. Rey Pamatmat
Iva Radivojevic

WORKS IN PROGRESS RESIDENCIES

Rachel V. Tess
Paul W. Warner

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.