Ordway Announces 2010 Sally Ordway Irvine Award Recipients

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts today announced the recipients of the 2010 Sally Ordway Irvine Awards. In addition to the traditional awards for Vision, Commitment, Initiative and Education, a new award was given this year to acknowledge extraordinary efforts to expand access to the arts across Minnesota. This award was inspired by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment, one of the most significant acts of public support for the arts in Minnesota's history. The Arts Access award was presented by State Senator Richard Cohen, a longtime advocate for the arts in Minnesota.

The 2010 Sally Award winners are:

ARTS ACCESS: Amy Stoller Stearns and the Historic Holmes Theatre/DLCCC

INITIATIVE: Kathy Mouacheupao and the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT)

COMMITMENT: Willie Murphy

EDUCATION: Anton Treuer

VISION: Michelle Hensley and Ten Thousand Things Theater

"Every year, our selection committee has the challenging but rewarding task of identifying a handful of award recipients from among dozens of worthy nominations," said Patricia A. Mitchell, Ordway president and ceo. "The level of creativity throughout Minnesota is outstanding, and the Ordway is honored to acknowledge this artistry each year through the Sally Awards."

The first Sally Award was presented in 1986 to Sally Ordway Irvine, whose initiative, vision and commitment provided the inspiration for the creation of Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. The Ordway inaugurated the annual Sally Awards program in 1992; it continues today with the generous support of the Minnesota State Arts Board, Minnesota Public Radio and the Saint Paul Hotel. Each of the award recipients receives a crystal award and a cash award of $2,500.

Arts Access Award: Amy Stoller Stearns and the Historic Holmes Theatre/DLCCC
Amy Stoller Stearns and her family moved from Minneapolis to Detroit Lakes, Minn. in 2002. After working in public relations and marketing for many years, she wasn't sure what she would do in a smaller town. Then she heard that the new Detroit Lakes Community Cultural Center, which housed the Historic Holmes Theatre, was looking for a box office manager. Stoller Stearns talked her way into a job and was tasked with setting up the box office and creating the marketing for this new theater. She fell in love with the job and the place, and a year later she was named the executive director for the Holmes Theatre.

Today, the Holmes Theatre is a hub of performing arts activity in northwestern Minnesota, having hosted more than 300 shows and events. Performances range from the Canadian Brass to Ladysmith Black Mambazo and everything in between, including local, regional, national and international performers. It is important to Stoller Stearns and the theater staff that the arts be accessible to everyone in Becker County and so they offer artist visits to schools, discounts/free tickets to school groups, performances appealing to diverse audiences, and partnerships with area nonprofits. When it opened nine years ago, no one quite knew what the Holmes Theatre would become, but today it's hard for most to imagine life in Detroit Lakes without it.

Initiative Award: Kathy Mouacheupao and the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT)
Kathy Mouacheupao is the executive director for the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT), the leading Hmong American arts organization in the country. CHAT grew out of Pom Siab Hmoob Theater, established in 1993 to put Hmong stories in front of audiences. In 1998, organizers decided to expand their focus beyond theater in order to serve more Hmong artists, and changed the name to CHAT. Today, CHAT provides free art classes for youth, creates opportunities for leadership and professional development for artists, and offers memorable experiences for the community. Its role has evolved into a social justice organization that recognizes the power of the arts to affect change. CHAT envisions a vibrant community where Hmong American artists are inspired to share their perspectives and empowered to challenge life's boundaries

The annual Hmong Arts and Music Festival, sponsored by CHAT, has become a community celebration of Hmong culture, arts and expression. In 2007, CHAT hosted the first annual Fresh Traditions Fashion Show, an innovative exhibit of functional art designed by Hmong artists blending contemporary designs with traditional Hmong fabrics. CHAT received the first Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Arts Achievement Award in 2009 in recognition of its work to incorporate the arts into the daily lives of communities.

Commitment Award: Willie Murphy
Willie Murphy is a soul, R&B, blues and rock legend. A charter member of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, he has performed with everyone from Jefferson Airplane and Joan Baez to Muddy Waters and Carl Perkins.

 

Born in Minneapolis, Murphy started playing the piano at age four and soon developed a passion for rhythm and blues. It was while hanging around the West Bank music scene that he met folk musician "Spider" John Koerner. Together they began to write songs and tour the club and festival circuit, eventually producing the iconic Elektra release "Running, Jumping, Standing Still" and landing a top spot at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival. But Murphy was eager to return to his R&B roots, and formed a new band, Willie and the Bees, that went on to become underground legends. The Bees were also featured on Bonnie Raitt's first Warner Bros. album that Willie produced in 1971. After the Bees' final gig in 1984, Murphy started playing solo blues and rock piano, and launched his own label, Atomic Theory, which produced great local musicians like Becky Thompson, Boiled in Lead and The New International Trio. Now, Murphy surprises his fans once again with his new genre-bending release on Red House Records, "A Shot of Love in a Time of Need," featuring soul, jazz, funk, rock and folk.

Education Award: Anton Treuer
Anton Treuer is professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University. He has a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is editor of the only academic journal of the Ojibwe language and author of eight books including "The Assassination of Hole in the Day" and "Ojibwe in Minnesota," recently named "Minnesota's Best Read for 2010" by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Dr. Treuer has championed Minnesota's traditional indigenous art forms and has worked tirelessly to expand our definition of the arts to include oral narrative and story performance, especially as they intersect with the Ojibwe language. His dedication to preserve, revitalize and educate others about Ojibwe language, culture, and artistic heritage have earned him over 30 prestigious awards and fellowships from many organizations, including the American Philosophical Society, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

Vision Award: Michelle Hensley and Ten Thousand Things Theater
Michelle Hensley is the founder and artistic director of Ten Thousand Things Theater, known across the country for bringing the highest quality theater to audiences in prisons, homeless shelters and housing projects, while engaging veteran theater goers as well. She has directed more than 40 productions including "The Good Person of Szechwan," "Measure for Measure," "Antigone," "The Tempest," and "Richard III," along with musicals such as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." Hensley has been awarded fellowships by the Minnesota State Arts Board and the McKnight Foundation, and City Pages has honored her as Theater Artist of the Year and as Best Director in multiple years. She received a 2010 Ivey Award (for "Othello"), and was a winner of the Francesca Primus Prize given by the American Theater Critics Association for outstanding contributions to the American theater by a female artist. This past year, the company was named Best Small Theater in the Twin Cities by City Pages, and the company engaged in an exciting partnership with New York City's prestigious Public Theater, touring "Measure for Measure" to underserved audiences in New York.

About the Ordway
The Ordway is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading nonprofit performing arts centers and Saint Paul's most elegant and inviting performance space. The Ordway's Music Theater and McKnight stages attract diverse audiences with an array of productions showcasing the finest in American musical theater, world music, dance, and vocal performance. Education and community engagement are integral to the Ordway's mission, with major initiatives including the annual Flint Hills International Children's Festival and Ordway Education programs that serve over 50,000 students annually. The Ordway also serves as authorizer for the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, a professionally guided academic and artistic environment that trains aspiring pre-professional performing artists. Together with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera and The Schubert Club, the Ordway is a member of the Arts Partnership and serves as the principal venue for their performances.

 

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