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Arts & Entertainment

The Second Katonah Museum Himmel Award & Lecture

The Katonah Museum of Art (www.katonahmuseum.org) is pleased to announce the recipient of the Museum's second annual Himmel Award, celebrating leaders in the world of the arts for their significant achievements and innovations. Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, will be honored on October 17, 2010.  Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of the Arts received the award in 2009. Following a cocktail reception, Dean Campbell will deliver the second annual Himmel lecture: "What's Public About Public Art."  The event will take place from 5-7pm at the Chappaqua Crossing Auditorium, 480 Bedford Road, Chappaqua, NY.  Tickets are $25 for members of the Museum, $35 for non-members, and $15 for students and Katonah Museum Artist Association members. For a $250 donation, a guest may receive one ticket and dinner with Dean Campbell after the lecture (limited seating). For more information about the event and to purchase tickets, please contact Laura Bass at (914) 232-9555, ext. 2978.

"This lecture series and award was conceived as a celebration and validation of original scholarship, innovative achievement, and visionary thinking in the arts," explained Betty Himmel, Katonah Museum Overseer and past President, for whom the award is named.

"Dean Campbell is now at the helm of one of the most prestigious schools in the country - a place that, in her words, incubates courageous artists, scholars, and intellectuals who will be the lightning rods and change agents for their generation. Her penchant for asking difficult questions, re-examining assumptions, and challenging unthinking orthodoxy will be evidenced in her talk which will explore some well-known successes and failures of public art of the past 50 years and will suggest how each example reveals as much about a people, a country, or given community as it does about the individual artist."

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Neil Watson, Katonah Museum's Executive Director, noted, "The nominating committee was unanimous on Dean Campbell as this year's recipient.  Her outstanding leadership in both museums and education dovetail perfectly with the Katonah Museum's mission and its programs."

Mary Schmidt Campbell has been dean of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts since 1991.  Previously, she was New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs in the Edward I. Koch and David Dinkins administrations.  She came to city government after having served as executive director of the Studio Museum in Harlem for ten years.  She also served in the voluntary position of Chair of the New York State Council on the Arts from 2007-2009. In September of 2009 Dean Campbell was appointed by President Barack Obama as the Vice Chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, which is a non-partisan advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural matters.

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Dean Campbell holds a B.A. in English Literature from Swarthmore College, an M.A. in Art History from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in Humanities, also from Syracuse.  She is co-author of Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987) and Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden, 1940-1987 (New York: Oxford University Press & The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1991).  She sits on the board of The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, and The Harlem School of the Arts.  In the fall of 2001 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

ABOUT THE HIMMEL AWARD

Named in honor of Betty Himmel, who was instrumental in defining the direction and mission of the Museum and has served as an arts advocate and community leader for many years, the award was established to recognize those creators and conceivers, radical thinkers and risk takers who have demonstrated their ability to incite, excite, and provoke new thinking in the arts.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM

The Katonah Museum of Art, through innovative exhibition and education programs, promotes the understanding and enjoyment of the arts for visitors of all ages. The Museum presents diverse exhibitions that explore ideas about art, culture and society.

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