Rusty Foley and Bob Booker To Receive 2020 Shelley Awards At Governor's Arts Awards Celebration

Catherine "Rusty" Foley, a longtime arts advocate and supporter who served as executive director at Arizona Citizens for the Arts for eight years before her retirement, and Bob Booker, who was executive director at the Arizona Commission on the Arts from 2006 to 2017, will receive Shelley Awards at the 39th annual Governor's Arts awards dinner and celebration.

The event, which also will recognize winners of Governor's Arts Awards from across the state, is scheduled March 26 at the Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street in Mesa. Individual tickets are $250 for Arizona Citizens for the Arts members and $300 for nonmembers. Reception begins at 6 p.m. with awards presented from 7:30-9 p.m. A one-hour After Party will start at 9 p.m.

"There are not two more deserving people for this recognition than Rusty Foley and Bob Booker," said Arizona Citizens for the Arts Executive Director Joseph Benesh. "During their careers, and even after, they have been consistent, ardent advocates for Arizona's arts and culture sector and leaders in helping build and sustain the economic engine that arts and culture in our state represent. Their legacies are clear and impactful."

Foley was named executive director at Arizona Citizens for the Arts in July 2011 after serving on the board of directors beginning in 2003 and as chair. As an arts advocate, she also has served as a board member of Arizona Theatre Company, Childsplay and the Phoenix Art Museum Corporate Council. She was the Phoenix Arts and Business Council's 2007 Arts Board Member of the Year, received Phoenix Theatre's "Women Who Care" award and was the Arizona Capitol Times 2012 Leader in Public Policy for Arts and Humanities.

Recently, she received the Raymond G. Van Diest Music Advocacy Award from the Arizona Music Educators Association. She also is a member of the Americans for the Arts State Arts Advocacy Network (SAAN) and served two terms on the SAAN Council.

Booker, an artist and arts administrator, came to Arizona following the retirement of Shelley Cohn, for whom the award is named and who served for nearly 30 years as the Commission's executive director. Booker had been Executive Director at the Minnesota State Arts Board from 1997 to 2005 after serving in several other positions.

In Arizona, he served as a Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture commissioner; co-chaired the Arts and Culture Committee of the Arizona Mexico Commission; served on the board and chaired Grantmakers in the Arts; was a trustee at WESTAF from 2007-2013 and on the board of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

His artwork has been exhibited in several states and is held in collections in Minnesota, Colorado, Canada, California and Arizona.

The Governor's Arts Awards are presented by Arizona Citizens for the Arts in partnership with the Office of the Governor. Since 1981, more than 200 distinguished artists, individuals, cultural organizations, educators, businesses and philanthropists have received Governor's Arts Awards. For more information, visit www.azcitizensforthearts.org. Sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting Arizona Citizens for the Arts at (602) 253-6535 or info@azcitizensforthearts.org.

For more information, visit www.azcitizensforthearts.org.

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