The Arts Council Holds Annual Meeting

Hanesbrands executives to co-chair Phase Three of Comprehensive Campaign

 Arts Council Award and R. Philip Hanes Jr. Young Leader Award winners announced

 

Winston-Salem, NC  (October 28, 2009) – The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County announced that Richard A. Noll, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Hanesbrands and Mike Ernst, Senior Vice President and General Manager, will chair Phase Three of the Arts Council's  $26 million Comprehensive Campaign.  The Hanes brands executives assume their duties as The Arts Council announced more than $23 million in contributions and pledges.

 

"The last dollars are usually a challenge," said Milton Rhodes, President and CEO of the Arts Council. "but we are on schedule and confident of meeting our goal. We are extremely fortunate to have two people with the leadership skills of Rich Noll and Mike Ernest to head our campaign team and get us across the finish line."

 

The Arts Council also announced the winners of its two annual awards, the Annual Arts Council Award and the R. Philip Hanes, Jr. Young Leader Award.  The Annual Arts Council Award was presented to Sue Henderson, Triad Regional Manager for Wealth Management at Wachovia, for exhibiting extraordinary commitment to volunteer service and making significant contributions to the arts in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

 

In presenting the award, Janie Wilson, said, "While she has served as a member of the Arts Council Board and chaired our Annual Campaign, she also has given generously of her time and personal resources to other arts organizations.  In her professional life, she has found ways to showcase the arts in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and demonstrate dramatically that Winston-Salem is truly The City of Arts and Innovation.  She is devoted to this city."

Cheryl Lindsay received the R. Philip Hanes, Jr. Young Leader Award which is presented to a person 40 years of age or younger who has exemplified volunteer dedication and leadership and served as a model for future young leaders involved in the development of the cultural resources of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Lindsay is Director of the Human Resources Project Management Office and Diversity/Inclusion at Hanesbrands.

 

Gerry Patton, Executive Director of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company, presented the award, said, "The winner is a talented and successful professional woman who has many interests and causes. She serves on this board and on the board of the Youth Chorus.  During the National Black Theatre Festival she helped organize an event that brought hundreds to the Millennium Center to raise funds for young people interested in the arts.   She co-chaired The Arts Council's 2009 in-house campaign at Hanesbrands, boosting substantially the average amount contributed by Hanesbrands employees."

 

Bill Benton, a member of The Arts Council Board of Trustees and Chair of the Organizational Support Grants Panel, reported that The Arts Council made total awards of $1,825,000 in four grant categories to 42 arts and cultural organizations and 19 individual artists for the 2009-2010 grant period.  Its Funded Partners received $1.6 million in Organizational Support grants. The Arts Council made grants totaling $90,000 for Arts-In-Education, $90,000 for Innovative Projects, and $45,500 for Regional Artist Projects.  This is the largest amount ever awarded by The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County in an annual grant cycle. It also provided more than a half million dollars for the operation and maintenance of The Arts Council Theatre at the Hanes Community Center and Sawtooth and AC Delco buildings, soon to be the Downtown Center for the Arts.

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County was established in 1949 and was the first locally established arts council in the United States.  It will celebrate its 60^th Anniversary at a luncheon on Thursday, November 19, as a part of Six Days in November: A Celebration of Crafts, Arts and Innovation. 

 

#   #   #

 

 

For additional Information, please contact

Christine Gorelick

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County

336.722.2585, EXT. 123

cgorelick@intothearts.org