Local arts leaders to be honored at annual awards ceremony

Photo courtesy of Northwest Repertory Singers

NORTHWEST REPERTORY SINGERS

The 20th annual Margaret K. Williams Arts Awards, sponsored by the Pierce County Arts Commission and Pierce County Arts and Cultural Services, will be presented Nov. 1 at the Tacoma Art Museum.

The awards are given to individuals and organizations that have made significant and innovative contributions to the development of the arts in Pierce County. They are named for the late Margaret K. Williams, a member of the Pierce County Arts Commission. She was active in the arts for many years and played a major role in shaping the commission's ongoing commitment to the recognition and celebration of Pierce County's cultural diversity. Following her death in 1990, the commission named the awards in her honor.

Awards are given in three categories – Arts Education, Excellence in the Arts and the Jim Smith Award, named after the Tacoma artist and internationally renowned wood caver who passed away in 2005. Smith was also a member of the Pierce County Arts Commission.

The Jim Smith Award this year is going to two winners, Northwest Repertory Singers and Asia Pacific Cultural Center. Dr. Jerry Kracht will receive the Excellence in Arts award, and the award for Arts Education will go to Mike Wilkinson.

"Every year there are so many deserving artists and organizations in Pierce County," said Pierce County Arts Commission President Glenda Carino. "We're astounded by the number of nominations we've received over the years and we're very grateful that we're able to acknowledge the artists and organizations each year with these awards."

Paul W. Schultz is artistic director and founder of the Northwest Repertory Singers. He said receiving the award "is a distinct honor and privilege, especially when you look at the long list of outstanding groups who have received this award in the past."

Now celebrating their seventh season, the choral group has already established a name for itself by staging community-focused performances such as its memorial concert on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Early on one of the first things that brought our name to the public was when we did the 'Rolling Requiem' to honor the first anniversary of 9/11," Schultz said. "It was on Sept. 11, 2002, at the exact hour (the attacks occurred), 8:47 in the morning. We had a volunteer orchestra of about 50, a volunteer chorus of 130, four volunteer professional soloists and about 1,000 people jammed Mason United Methodist Church."

The singers have also performed with the Tacoma Youth Chorus and Native American dancers and drummers from Chief Leschi Schools. The group holds membership in the Proctor District Association and participates in their annual arts festival and goes caroling in the neighborhood at Christmastime.

Founded in 1996, the Asia Pacific Cultural Center (APCC) has produced nearly 40 community events during that time including its most recent, the first ever Asian Film Festival going on now.

Carino said one of the things the Margaret K. Williams Arts Awards treasures is finding artists and organizations that help bring communities together by bridging the gaps to promote diversity. "The Jim Smith Award is something we like to give artists and organizations that have a direct mission to do that. The (APCC) is a very good example of organizations in our community that help build bridges and promote cultural understanding of a wide group of different cultures."

"We are honored with the recognition and humbled to be included among such a distinguished group of past recipients," said APCC Executive Director Phil Chang. "This award is validation for our volunteers and supporters who have been behind us all these years. It gives them the acknowledgement they deserve. We can thank Patsy Surh O'Connell for her dedication and hard work over the past 10 years; our board of directors, past and present, who support and guide us; and the community for sharing in our passion."

In addition to his duties as professor of music at Pacific Lutheran University, Dr. Jerry Kracht served as artistic director of the award-winning Second City Chamber Series, producing professional chamber music and high-quality chamber music education for the past 25 years.

"Dr. Kracht has been in and around the arts scene for a long, long time," Carino said, noting that the award he will be receiving is as much for his volunteerism as it is for his contributions in the education of young people.

Wilkinson, recipient of the Arts Education award, has been active in the local dramatic arts scene for more than 40 years, 35 of which he has spent as director for the Bellarmine Preparatory School's drama department. His productions with Bellarmine have been repeatedly nominated for the statewide high school musical theater 5th Avenue Awards. This year's production of "Urinetown" was nominated for 11 awards and won the competition's Outstanding Musical Production award.

"This is his final year of directing at Bellarmine," Carino noted, a fitting tribute, she said, to his legacy.

Carino said awards organizers are putting out the call for nominations for next year's awards. Artists and organizations from throughout Pierce County are eligible. Nomination information is on the Pierce County Arts Commission's website, http://www.co.pierce.wa.us. Select "arts" from the "services guide" drop-down menu, then choose from the links on the left.

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